Eleven bats will have food and shelter for one year thanks to some generous DeKalb residents.

Keith Bansemer, WDEK spokesman, said the station sponsored a fundraiser for some endangered bats in Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo that started Oct. 26 and ended Halloween day. A total of $110.31 was collected.

WDEK asked DeKalb residents to donate their pennies in jars located in the children’s section at the DeKalb public library and at the WDEK Kishwaukee Haunted House.

The unique bats are called “Rodriguez fruit bats” and can be found only on Rodriguez island, a small island about 140 miles off the coast of Madagascar.

Sherman Camp, Brookfield Zoo keeper, said the fruit eating bats are becoming extinct due to deforestation on the island.

“The last resort to raise them was to send them to zoos so man would not destroy them,” he said.

“The only zoos in the United States that keep these unique bats are Brookfield Zoo, the Bronx Zoo and the most recent one in Lincoln, Nebraska. Brookfield Zoo currently has seven male bats and 10 females.

“NIU students helped out a lot with the donations. We owe them a great thank-you,” Bansemer said.

The project was started to fit in with the Halloween time of year, he said.