- Common Name
- Mexican free-tailed bat
- Scientific Name
- Tadarida brasiliensis
- Status
- least concern
- Location
- Mexico
The goal of this work is to establish legal protection of 28 critical cave sites, safeguarding 45 species of bats totaling more than 10 million individuals across Mexico.
The Need
In Mexico, 64% of bat species (88 of 138) are considered cave-dwellers, with almost half of them thought to rely on subterranean structures on a permanent basis. It is estimated that there are almost 1,000 caves used as bat roosts in Mexico. However, using criteria such as species richness, abundance, species of special concern, uniqueness, or irreplaceability (caves that host bats in critical stages like maternity colonies), 53 caves are listed as priority for conservation in Mexico.
Our Approach
We have reviewed the available data and determined that 28 of the 53 sites do not receive any form of protection. Based on the cave protection measures we have successfully implemented to protect Mexican long-nosed bat roosts in Mexico, we are confident that we can replicate this for these 28 sites. We estimate that this will lead to the protection of 45 species of bats using these caves, totaling more than 10 million individuals.
Our Impact
By working with Federal and State Authorities and local communities to formally protect critical cave roosts, we are establishing ourselves as the leading organization for implementing cave conservation measures in Mexico. At Cueva de Oztuyehualco, the only known mating roost for the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat, the work we designed and help lead has successfully eliminated development activities from occurring near and on the cave site. In addition, El Tepozteco National Park will include Cueva de Oztuyehualco in its management plan — marking the first time bats are included in a Federal protected area management plan in Mexico. We aim to build on this momentum and accelerate the rate at which we’re able to get the 28 sites protected.
About the Bats
The Team
Regional Director, Mexico & Latin America
Born and raised in Mexico, Ana earned her Ph. D. from University of Miami studying how habitat fragmentation impacts movement of tropical forest birds, until she discovered bats! Ana completed her postdoctoral research and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) working on bat ecology and conservation. For the last 10 years, she has been dedicated to monitoring the effects that habitat transformation has on bats and their habitats, and how to better prevent, manage and restore bat populations. Ana is an active member of the Mexican Program for the Conservation of Bats (PCMM) where she participates as advisor for conservation, monitoring, and educational programs. She is a Fulbright Scholar and National Geographic Explorer.
Ana joins BCI as the in-country advisor for Endangered Species Interventions in Mexico, aiming to facilitate and expand BCI´s activities in Mexico and Latin America, while promoting collaboration with local partners, and building capacity with local agencies and communities to monitor, manage and conserve bats.
Kristen Lear, Ph.D. – Agave Restoration Program Director
Dr. Lear has over 15 years of global leadership in community-based bat conservation, interdisciplinary research, collaborative partnerships, and public engagement. She is the Director of BCI’s Agave Restoration Initiative, leading bi-national efforts to restore habitat for threatened pollinating bats and strengthen sustainable rural livelihoods across the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. She oversees strategic planning for the initiative, fundraising, and partnerships with over 100 multi-sectoral partners, while pioneering novel conservation tools such as eDNA to guide species recovery.
Dr. Lear is Co-Founder of the Nivalis Conservation Network and co-led revision of the Mexican long-nosed bat Species Status Assessment and Recovery Plan. She also serves on the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Steering Committee and the Human Dimensions of Bat Conservation Working Group (IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group).
An award-winning science communicator, Dr. Lear is passionate about public outreach and has given hundreds of public talks around the world and led numerous bat walks and bat house building workshops. She serves as an expert for media and has appeared on National Geographic’s stage, CBS’s Mission Unstoppable TV show, and numerous podcasts and radio programs. She is a National Geographic Explorer, AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador promoting women and girls in STEM, and a Lifetime Girl Scout.
Dr. Lear earned her B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Australia studying the critically endangered Southern bent-wing bat. She earned her Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation from the University of Georgia, where her research combined natural and social sciences to aid in conservation of the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat in northeast Mexico.
More information about Dr. Lear’s work can be found here.
Email: [email protected]
Read More
Key Collaborators
- Asesores en Planeación de Sistemas Socio Ambientales, S. C.
- Bioconciencia
- Centro Ecoturistico Aguacatitla
- Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
- CONANP (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas)
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología-UACH
- Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza
- Espeleotec
- Grupo Pionero Espeleológico de Sonora
- Grutas de Xoxafi
- Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas UNICACH
- Instituto de Ecología-UNAM
- Laboratorio de Ecología y Conservación de Vertebrados Terrestres
- Naturaleza y Cultura
- Programa para la Conservación de los Murciélagos de México
- PRONATURA Noreste
- Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UACH)
- Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo
- Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco
- Zoológico Miguel Álvarez del Toro
