Merlin Tuttle
Merlin Devere Tuttle is an American ecologist, conservationist, writer and wildlife photographer who has specialized in bat ecology, behavior, and conservation. He is credited with protecting the Austin Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony from extermination. Tuttle is currently active as founder and executive director of Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation in Austin, Texas. He also founded the conservation organizations Bat Conservation International, from which he retired in 2009, and helped establish the National Park of American Samoa. Tuttle has also published research on gray bat population ecology migration, and the frog-eating bats Trachops cirrhosus. Tuttle's photography of bats has been featured in numerous National Geographic Society publications, including 100 Best Pictures and 100 Years of Adventure and Discovery. In 2002, the United States Postal Service released a commemorative stamp series featuring Tuttle's photographs.
