ExperiMENTAL

After a great first week on the experiment.com page things have slowed down sadly! But we had an article out on Inside Ecology ( https://insideecology.com/2018/05/25/the-impact-of-humane-roost-exclusion-on-white-bellied-free-tailed-bats/ ) about the project which will hopefully help us to get the word out there! We really need your help so please do consider donating as there is only a few days left! Flights are booked so even if we don’t get all the funds though we are still going to give a shot!

The research is unique and needed as human-wildlife conflict is on the increase, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia where urban areas are rapidly encroaching on natural habitats. Conflict can arise due to a number of reasons such as personal injury, death, disease transmission, property damage, loss of crops or livestock and cultural fear. Studies on human-wildlife conflict are widely documented, however, there are relatively few studies investigating human-bat conflict. In Malawi, bat species have limited protection and several species are known to roost within artificial structures. These bats are often found roosting in houses, schools and medical centres, often causing conflict from their smell, droppings and noise. African Bat Conservation (ABC) are working in Malawi to conserve bats and offer humane roost exclusion as a way to alleviate conflict, which helps prevent whole colonies being lost to fumigation.

In another batty news, we caught the first Nathusius pipistrelle for Derbyshire Bat Conservation Group the other night when I joined Tom and co for a survey! Super exciting news to get the first in hand record as they have known them to be around having recorded them on bat detectors across the county. Also got some surveys with Notts Bat Group ahead of me going on my research trip, and if you are interested you can book online via the NBG website on the events page – https://www.nottsbatgroup.org.uk/events/