Anyone who begins to study bats quickly realizes that the world can be viewed in a completely different way than we do. Although bats aren’t blind, they use their vision in the dark. Its role is played by the ears, which are the most important sensory organ for bats. Bats use the principle of echolocation.
During the flight, bats constantly emit sound signals and, receiving them back in the form of an echo reflected from surrounding objects; they have the opportunity to “hear an image” of the surrounding space, forming for themselves an accurate picture of what is happening around them. At the same time, they are able to distinguish objects up to 0.08 mm in size.
Whereas bats are quite common, in regions with intensive industrial and agricultural development, their populations are declining catastrophically, and many species are now on the edge of extinction. Visitors of the “Everybody Can Help” volunteer center had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the exhibition “Aerial acrobats of the night”.
The exhibition contains introductory information about bats, their body structure, and echolocation; describes the mating behavior of bats, features of carrying and giving birth to bats, as well as their feeding; displays information about all 23 species of bats that live in the Carpathians, which makes up 85% of all Ukrainian chiropterofauna. The exhibition was prepared and produced within the framework of the Bat4Man project “Increasing environmental awareness in local communities through joint conservation of bats in the natural regions of Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine.”
Volunteers of our center dispelled myths about the involvement of bats in the transmission of coronaviruses, introduced children to the biology of bats, and made and painted bat boxes. Today was an opportunity to get acquainted with the living environment of bats and hang boxes for them in the attic of the church. The event was conducted by IERS expert Leonid Pokrytyuk.
The event was held within the framework of cooperation between the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies – IERS (headed by Alexander Bokotey) and the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU Bundesverband NABU International ), the project coordinator Ivan Tymofeiev, Nataliya Kulya (IERS).
Informational Service of IERS