Ben Paris - Bats
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Transcript of Ben Paris - Bats
Holy bat facts, Batman!What’s so special about bats?
Ben Paris – Senior Biodiversity Advisor
• Chiroptophobia
• Bats are associated with Dracula, Halloween & Cemeteries
• Perceive bats as:– ‘Blood suckers’
• only 3 species of 1,200 do!– Rabies
• only 0.5% of vampire bats have rabies
• Does not apply to NZ bats!
Are bats scary?
© Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International,www.batcon.org
Bats are cute, not scary!
• Maori name: Pekapeka• Two endemic bat species
– Lesser short-tailed bats (Mystacina tuberculatus)
– Long-tailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus)
• Only land mammals native to New Zealand!
• High conservation priority!• Greater short-tailed bats
- extinction by rats in 1960s
Map: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/bats/3/2
Bats in New Zealand
• Breed in summer• Pregnant for 6 - 8 weeks• One pup (Dec-Jan)• Pups ¼ of mother’s size• 4 - 5 weeks pups:
fur covered, open eyes & can fly!
• Bats live over 11 years – maybe even 30 years!
• Group of bats = “a cloud”
Bats in New Zealand
• Ancient bat genus (Mystacina); Isolation 80 MYA• Larger (12-15g)• Generalists (nectar, fruit, pollen, seeds, insects) • Terrestrialism (only two bat species in world) • Low frequency echolocation (28 kHz)• Gregarious (colonies of 100’s – 1000’s)
Short-tailed bats
• Small (8-14g)• Aerial insectivore (moths, mosquitoes etc)• Echolocation (40 kHz)• Small social group sizes (10’s – 100’s)• Roost in both native and exotic trees
Photos credit: Department of Conservation
Long-tailed bats
Photo credit: Kerry Borkin
Photo credit: Kerry Borkin
– Forest fragmentation– Roost disturbance & competition– Pest mammals– Loss of habitat
Threats to bats
Photograph: Gerard Kelly
“DoC estimates long-tailed bat numbers will fall by
about 90 per cent by 2050.”
Bat classroom education
“I think learning about bats is cool!” - Maija, 6 years
• Urban development puts bats at high risk
• Monitoring identifies critical habitat for bat protection zone
• Create “bat map” for city to protect bats
• Minimise tree removal (tree felling guidelines)
Bat monitoring
Auckland regional bat surveyApril 2012• Focus on likely sites in North/West region
• Looked at sites with specific criteria
• Bat detectors give coarse absent/present
Auckland regional bat surveyApril 2012
• No detection does not mean no bats
• Bat feeding range 100km2 big search area!
• Three new populations found in differing habitat
Rural bats!!
Bats - pine forest edges
- Riverhead
Bats - native forest edges
- Mt Tamahunga
Urban bats!!
What can you do?
• Make a roost box
• Decorate with school sponsorship
• Donate to area where bats live
What can you do?
• Look for bats in your backyard, local park or school grounds– Bats require specific conditions…
• Near open water – streams, rivers, lakes• Near open areas – feed off insects• Near forest edges of old mature trees – incl exotic
– If you don’t have bats…• Plant native trees – puriri, kauri etc• Teach others about bats!
More research required…
To the bat cave, Batman!