 |
 |
Quick Links |
|
 |
Did You Know... |
|
| ...
all mammals can contract rabies; however, even the less than a half of one percent of bats that do, normally bite only in self-defense and pose little threat to people who do not handle them. |
|
|
Our Wish List
Help for Ukrainian Bats
The Crimea has some of the largest and most diverse bat populations in Ukraine. A 2004-05 ³Bat Census of Crimean Caves² confirmed that cave-bat populations have declined drastically, largely because of human disturbance.
But the census also found evidence that tens of thousands of displaced bats had found refuge in about 10 abandoned limestone mines, where they formed maternity colonies. Only one of those mines has any protection at all.
Biologists with the Ukrainian Centre for Bat Protection plan to survey these sites to develop information required by the Republic Committee on Environmental Protection. The group hopes to win official protection for the caves, then educate local residents and landowners on why and how they should conserve these bats and their roosts. The Centre requests a BCI Global Grassroots Conservation Fund grant of $3,880.
Bridge Bats in Houston
Waugh Drive Bridge in Houston, Texas, is the summer home of some 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats. BCI is working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, City of Houston, Buffalo Bayou Partnership and local volunteers to develop a safe, educational viewing site at the Bat Bridge. Volunteers provide educational talks three nights a week to growing crowds who gather to watch the bats emerge each evening. BCI hopes to provide a small, wireless camera system so visitors can watch the roosting bats on a video monitor. We also plan to contribute two bat detectors to help educate schoolchildren, tourists and the local community about bats. Portable Wireless Video Security System: $150 (additional cameras $79 each); Pettersson D-100 Bat Detectors: $300 each.
Calling all Rafies
Many biologists believe that Rafinesque¹s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus
rafinesquii) should be considered for endangered species listing. However, the necessary data are not available because these bats are rarely captured in mist nets or detected by acoustic devices. Research Ecologist Susan Loeb of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station hopes to change that.
She plans to play recorded social calls of Rafinesque¹s big-eared bats at mist-net sites to test, under controlled conditions, whether these calls are an attractant that can increase capture success. Experiments will be conducted in South Carolina. Loeb requests a North American Bat Conservation Fund grant of $4,300.
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
You can help save bats, too! Become a member of BCI to help support our worldwide effort to protect bats and bat habitat. You’ll receive a free gift for joining and a subscription to BATS magazine. Or, simply make a general donation – your generous gift goes a long way towards reversing the plight of these remarkable and vulnerable animals.
|
|
|
Support BCI |
|
 |
The
Bat Vine... |
|
5/5/2008 Research Position |  |
4/30/2008 5th Annual Mist Net Event | |
4/25/2008 A Race Against White-nose Syndrome | |
4/23/2008 Field Team Member Wanted | |
4/17/2008 Founder’s Circle Ecotour of Uganda | |
| | Vine Archive | |
|
|
What's RSS?
·
Mail this page
·
Lost? View Sitemap
