New Zealand bat flies away with bird of the year award

A bat has been named as New Zealand’s bird of the year, in a controversial move that has ruffled feathers.

The long-tailed bat had swooped in to clinch the title in an online poll.

Contest organisers had included the bat, one of the country’s few land-based native mammals, to raise its profile as a critically endangered species.

But the victory has annoyed some, with one commenter saying the country had gone “batty”.

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