Installation of hot boxes for conservation in the last nursery roost of Greater Horseshoe Bats Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in Austria

Authors

  • Lukas Zangl Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria;  Studienzentrum Naturkunde, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz, Austria.
  • Alexander Gutstein BatLife Österreich, Landstraßer Hauptstrasse 139/15, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Wolfgang Paill Studienzentrum Naturkunde, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz, Austria. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2542-5569
  • Edmund Weiss BatLife Österreich, Landstraßer Hauptstrasse 139/15, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
  • Peter Sackl Studienzentrum Naturkunde, Universalmuseum Joanneum, Weinzöttlstraße 16, 8045 Graz, Austria.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8140.15.1.22548-22550

Keywords:

Austria, bats, bat conservation, conservation measure, endangered species, Greater Horseshoe Bat, last breeding population, last known nursery roost, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, thermoregulation

Abstract

The Greater Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum has experienced drastic population declines in Austria over the last decades. Several central European countries harbor only residual isolated populations, often at the brink of extinction. Consequently, conservation efforts are undertaken to improve roosting, hibernation, and foraging conditions. One of these measures, although almost unheard of in international literature, is the installation of hot boxes in maternity roosts to improve thermal conditions during gestation and development of the young and provide roosting locations covering a range of different temperature regimes. Here, we report the first installation of hot boxes as a conservation effort for bats in Austria. Through this measure, conditions in the attic of Schloss Eggenberg in Graz, the last known maternity roost of Greater Horseshoe Bats in Austria, should be maintained and hopefully even improved to conserve this last Austrian breeding population in the long run.

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Published

26-01-2023 — Updated on 26-01-2023

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Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2023)

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Copyright (c) 2023 Lukas Zangl, Alexander Gutstein, Wolfgang Paill, Edmund Weiss, Peter Sackl

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