"Bat Cave" is the largest and only bat cave in Kurdistan and the Middle East located in "Deloran" city of Ilam Province in the East part of Kurdistan. This is a natural heritage in Kurdistan and its history goes back to the Tertiary Period i.e., Cenozoic about 65 million years ago.
The bat cave of Deloran is located 30 kilometers northeast of Deloran next to the hot springs of this city on the skirts of Siakou mountain. This cave is 255 meters deep, 30 meters wide, and almost 50 meters high. Since there are thousands of bats living in this cave, it has always been called Bat Cave. According to the experts, the number of these bats is around 25 to 30 thousand. There are about a thousand types of bats in the world, seven of which can be found in this cave in Kurdistan.
This cave has two entrances, the east gate is almost 31 × 30 meters. People cannot use this entrance to go inside the cave. The southern gate is smaller, about 5 × 3 meters wide and it is the only way to go inside the bat cave.
Every day in the evening, the bats fly out of the cave in groups and go towards the city of Deloran filling the area with their voice. This daily event has become a touristic attraction for those who visit the city. Thus, the Bat Cave has become a special place for scientific research and zoology. Every year zoology researchers and experts from around the world come to the East part of Kurdistan and Ilam Province.
The natural history of this cave traces back to millions of years ago but according to the archeologists this cave was an inhabiting place for cave people of Zagros in some periods of time and later it was occupied by bats. There are many special stalactites made of lime which is one of the particular features of this cave; there are stalactite and stalagmites found in this cave that has turned it into a unique cave in Zagros Mountain chains. There is also a deep corridor within this cave going towards the depth of the mountain about 400 meters.
The floor of this cave is covered with a thick layer of bat guano piled up over a long time and now the farmers of Deloran collect them to use as fertilizer in their farms. During summer which makes this part of Zagros very hot, the bats stay in the cave to avoid the heat and survive in the cool temperature of the cave which makes it easier for zoology researchers and experts to study the bats closely.
Obviously, bats are cave animals. In the past years and due to the Corona Virus pandemic since it was claimed that the virus originated from bats, the cave was closed off by the Iranian government in 2019 and it was prohibited for people to visit it.
This cave was recorded as a national heritage by the Environment Preservation Council of Iran in 1976. Preserving and protecting this natural heritage of Kurdistan and the world is still on the Cultural Preservation Organization of Ilam Province in the East part of Kurdistan.
