Bats make up about 20% of all mammal species and play a vital role in our ecosystem by suppressing pests, dispersing seeds and pollinating plants. Without bats we would be eaten alive by mosquitoes and other flying bugs!
However, very little monitoring of bat populations has been done in WA, and we don’t have enough good data available to determine their extinction crisis levels. So MEHG volunteers, led by committee member, scientist and Mandurah Bat Hub Coordinator Robyn Devenish OAM, have been carrying out regular monitoring at several sites and reporting back to the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) with their findings. See below for a snapshot of the Nov-Feb quarter, which was during the pilot study.
In the second half of this year, CCWA will be running citizen science workshops on bat monitoring and echo-location of bats. The workshop dates will be published on our website in the coming months. In the meantime if you know of a bat roosting site in your area, do not disturb them but please do notify Robyn at bats@mehg.org
