Bat rescue and rehabilitation in Serbia in 2017

Abstract

In last few years bat experts with permits for bat handling and research from Institute for biological research “Siniša Stanković”, Natural History Museum in Belgrade and Wildlife Conservation Society “Mustela” have been involved in bat rescue and rehabilitation in Serbia. Our main activities are advising people what to do if they find a bat, taking care of juvenile and injured animals, and educating general public about bats. People usually called us when bat(s) were found grounded or in their home. A smaller percent of issues were solved by phone conversation, while majority of cases included bat expert going to field, picking up the animal and taking it for rehabilitation. In 2017 we received a total of 97 animals belonging to 4 bat species: Nyctalus noctula (74), Pipistrellus kuhlii (19), Hypsugo savii (2) and Vespertilio murinus (2). Majority of animals were from the territory of Belgrade. 9 received animals were juveniles (7 P. kuhlii and 2 H. savii), 5 were injured adults (3 P. kuhlii and 2 N. noctula), while rest of bats were healthy adults that were dehydrated and/or underweight. 90 percent of animals (88 out of 97) were successfully released. Unreleasable animals were used for bat popularization during International bat night and lectures in schools and similar events. All the work was done on the voluntary basis and with no fundings whatsoever for mealworms, medicaments or veterinarian services. There is an initiative for forming an official Center for bat rescue and rehabilitation, establishing the network of volunteers and provide funding for our future activities.