Waikato Branch Forest and Bird AGM

includes Speaker

Thursday 19th April

7.30 pm

Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

  Bats in the Waikato – survival in a highly modified landscape

  "New Zealand has only 2 species of bat, the lesser short-tailed bat and the long-tailed bat. Together they represent New Zealand's only endemic terrestrial mammals.

  While the short-tailed bat is restricted to the interior of old-growth native forest, long-tailed bats appear to be more flexible in their habitat selection. This has allowed them to survive in New Zealand's ever-changing urban and agricultural landscapes.

  We have been studying the behaviour, ecology, and persistence of long-tailed bats in the Waikato for the past 10 years, including studies at the rural/urban interface of Hamilton and the production forests to the south. These studies have told us a lot about what landscape features appear key to the survival of bats in the Waikato.

   In this talk I will summarize the knowledge we have gained, and how it is being applied to inform conservationists, developers and planners."