A cave gate is a manmadebarricade typically placed at, or just inside, the entrance to a cave in an effort to impede or mitigate human access to a cave's interior. The reason for gating a cave can be varied, but may include protecting sensitive or endangered bat species, protecting fragile cave resources, or restricting access to dangerous caves.[1]
The industry standard or "Basic Gate Design" is a vertically placed flat grid of horizontal bars. The spacing of the bar grid is crucial to allow access of small animals, such as bats, but restricting human entry. Other designs exist, but spacing of the bar grid appears to be universal.[1]