site.btaBats Can Suffer Indirect Impact from Wildfires – Expert

Compared to other less mobile animals, bats are not as threatened by wildfires directly, however, they still feel the impact, as their homes are destroyed, and food chains get disrupted, Elena Stoeva, an expert from the Green Balkans Federation told BTA. Stoeva spoke with BTA on the occasion of International Bat Night, which takes place annually every last full weekend of August.

Bats suffer during heatwaves, especially those that live in the outer walls of human buildings, where temperatures can get extremely high. To address this, many countries build special roost sites for bats.

Stoeva urged the public to think about the life of a bat. While more and more people realize that bats are not flying mice, that they are mammals, which are far from scary, awareness is still not high enough. Bats in Europe are exclusively insectivorous, which means that they feed on mosquitoes and potential pests in agriculture or forestry.

The International Bat Night was launched in 1997. More than 30 countries that have signed the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats take part in it today.

Every year at the end of August, presentations and exhibitions are organized to promote the lives of bats, their needs, as well as their role in maintaining and developing the planet's ecosystems. There are nearly 1,100 species of bats in the world, and about 25% of them are threatened with extinction. They are one of the most widespread groups of mammals and live on every continent except Antarctica.