Bat Cave

Royal Ontario Museum

Useful Information

Location:	100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6. At the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario. (43.667756, -79.394755)
Open:	All year Tue-Sun 10-17:30. [2023]
Fee:	Adults CAD 26, Children (15-19) CAD 20, Children (4-14) CAD 16, Children (0-3) free, Students CAD 20, Seniors (65+) CAD 21. Groups (10+): Adults CAD 20.80, Children (15-19) CAD 16, Children (4-14) CAD 12.80, Students CAD 16, Seniors (65+) CAD 16.80. [2023]
Classification:	Cave Replica Artificial bat cave in a museum.
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	St. Clair Cave: H=235 m asl, D=30 m, L=3,000 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2C6, Tel: 416-586-8000.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1965	the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum visited St. Clair Cave in Jamaica to collect bats.
1984	start of detailed fieldwork and development.
1988	Bat Cave opened.
27-FEB-2010	reopened after restauration.

Description

The Bat Cave is an exhibit in the Royal Ontario Museum. It is a reconstruction of parts of St. Clair Cave in Jamaica. St. Clair Cave is a tunnel cave, formed by an underground river, which is famous for the enormous amount of bats living in the cave. However, becuase of the bad air caused by the bat guano this cave is visited only with oxygen tanks.

The walk-through diorama shows not only bats, but also other cave animals like tailless scorpions and cave crickets. A part of the exhibition shows the enemies of bats, wild cats, and snakes.

The cave model was renovated in winter 2009/2010 by four artists who worked on the cave for two months. The number of models has increased from 500 to 800, the cave was enlarged. It now shows models of six different bat species and nine different invertebrates, insects living on the ground on bat guano on bats, and one snake.