Bats in the gallery

Cambodia’s National Museum in Phnom Penh is under attack—from bat dung.
The building is home to two million wrinkle-lipped and tomb bats. Wildlife
groups are loath to see the bats removed, but museum curators say their acidic
guano is destroying precious works of art. “Normally the big problem is the
odour,” says Laura Finn of the Bats in Buildings programme in Florida. The two
groups have compromised—they’re building a concrete ceiling to catch bat
droppings.