Bat-lovers of Europe here's the bat-news you've been waiting for: the bats are back. According to a new report from the European Environment Agency, in fact, the number of bats in Europe increased by more than 40% between 1993 and 2011, after the negative trend that lasted many years.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Bat-lovers of Europe here is the bat-news you've been waiting for: the bats are back. According to a new one relationship dell 'European Environment Agencyin fact, the number of bats in Europe increased by more than 40% between 1993 and 2011, after the negative trend that lasted many years.
The EEA report considers the state of bat populations in a few European countries and is the most comprehensive study ever done on the demographic trends of European bats, analyzing 16 of the 45 species existing throughout the continent. The study is the first to collect data from ten existing monitoring schemes in nine countries (Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the German states of Bavaria and Thuringia), developing a prototype of indicator on a European scale trends in bat populations. In this way, the experts counted and cataloged hibernating bats in as many as 6 thousand sites in the nine different countries.
“It is extremely encouraging to see bat populations regrow - says EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx - and this suggests that targeted conservation policies in recent years have been successful. But many bat species are still endangered, so preserving their habitat is still an important priority. The monitoring of bats - he continues - also helps to understand the alterations of the larger ecosystems, including climate change ".
Bat populations have been decimating mainly during the second half of the XNUMXth century and above all due to the intensification of agriculture, changes in land use, their intentional killing, the destruction of their habitat or due to toxic substances. in the atmosphere.
THE SPECIES FOUND. The number of eight bat species is increasing slightly, including the Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii). Mustachio's Vespertilio (Myotis mystacinus) and Brandt's Vespertilio (Myotis brandti) are so difficult to distinguish that they are counted together.
These, however, were the only species that saw a sharp increase between 1993 and 2011. Three were stable, two species were uncertain, and only the gray long-eared bat (Plecotus austriacus) declined, although moderately. The EEA report used the same method as a recent one relationship on the drastic decline in butterflies in Europe.
KILLED BY THE HEAT IN AUSTRALIA - Meanwhile in Australia these beautiful creatures, too demonized by popular culture, have suffered from the great summer heat wave that is affecting the whole country. Many specimens have died. Thousands have fallen from the trees.
Thus, fromAustralia Bat Clinic, in Queensland, the sweetest images of bats rescued by humans arrive: they stand lined up and wrapped in their blankets, ready to receive their feed. A total of 450 orphans are being tried to rehabilitate for future inclusion in nature.
Germana Carillo
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