Human uses of bats
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Human uses of bats include economic uses such as bushmeat or in traditional medicine. Bats are also used symbolically in religion, mythology, superstition, and the arts. Perceived medical uses of bats include treating epilepsy in South America, night blindness in China, rheumatism, asthma, chest pain, and fever in South Asia. Bat meat is consumed in Oceania, Australia, Asia, and Africa, with about 13% of all species hunted for food. Other economic uses of bats include using their teeth as currency on the island of Makira.
Bats are widely represented in the arts, with inclusion in epic poems, plays, fables, and comic books. Though frequently associated with malevolence in Western art, bats are symbols of happiness in China.