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”. Outraged bird-lovers cried fowl on Twitter, calling it a “total farce”, a “stolen election”, as well as more colourful and unprintable terms. Some on social media also saw it as a much-needed public relations victory for bats, after a particularly trying two years.(BBC)…[+]