In 2022, then 12-year-old Naomi d'Alessio launched a campaign to make the pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) the state bat of California.
First of all, they are super cute! We got to meet the official ambassador pallid bat, an injured rescue bat with a broken wing that will never be able to fly.
But beyond cute, pallid bats are as diverse as Californians. They live in every State Senate district -- oak woodlands, dry deserts, redwood forests, and beyond.
Like Californians, they have diverse culinary tastes. Out of more than 1700 species worldwide, they are one of very few that eats insects off the ground, insects in flight, AND fruit/nectar from cacti. A favorite food is scorpions, and they are relatively immune to the poison.
Like Californians, they are very social and speak different 'languages' that we can tell apart based on where they are from.
Naomi wrote the bill, and then contacted several state Senators and Assemblymembers to see who would be willing to introduce it. Eventually, the bill was introduced on February 17, 2023 by Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) as SB 732. The bill was referred to the committee on Governmental Organization, and a hearing was set for April 25. After hearing testimony from Naomi, the bill was passed out of committee by a vote of 14-1. On May 8, the bill was put to a vote on the floor of the Senate, where it passed by a vote of 36-0, sending it to the State Assembly. The bill was referred to the committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife, and Naomi again went to Sacramento to testify. After hearing her testimony, the bill was passed out of committee by a vote of 14-0. On June 27, a technical amendment was made to the bill, which slowed its progress. The bill was finally passed by a vote of 75-0 in the Assembly on August 18, and the Senate concurred to the amendment by a vote of 40-0 on September 6. The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 8, 2023, and became law on January 1, 2024 per the state constitution.
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Bats eat many pest species including those that contribute to health risks such as mosquitoes, wasps, and flies. A female bat nursing her young will eat more than two-thirds of her body weight in insects and arthropods every night.
(b) Bats provide more than $1,000,000,000 worth of pest control to California agriculture.
(c) Bats eat bark beetles and wood borers, reducing wildfire risk in California forests.
(d) Bats can live up to 40 years and typically raise just one pup a year. This low birth rate makes their populations particularly vulnerable to disruptions like humans encroaching on their habitat and climate change.
(e) The pallid bat is as diverse as Californians – pallid bats live in California’s deserts, oak woodlands, coastal redwood forests, and high up into the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains. They live in social colonies and have a rich language of calls to communicate with one another. The food they eat and the way they catch it varies both within and between different communities of pallid bats around the state.
(f) Naming Antrozous pallidus as the official state bat of California will help promote appreciation, study, and protection of bats in this state.
SEC. 2. Section 425.12 is added to the Government Code, to read:
425.12. The pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) is the official state bat.
Naomi's presentation about the bill, which she gave to Senators and Assemblymembers and their staff to encourage them to vote for it.
Naomi testifying in front of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife committee.
The campaign for the California state bat has been written up in the following publications: