Wee Jasper’s Eastern Bentwing-bat

Did you know that one of the things that Wee Jasper is known for is the Eastern Bentwing-bat?

Seems there has been concern about declining numbers of the tiny, 6-centimetre-long bats. However, last week, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Ecohealth team leader, Dr Doug Mills, confirmed the population of the bats at Wee Jasper has dramatically increased. “The population inside the Wee Jasper limestone caves is now 17 per cent higher than the long-term average,” Dr Mills said.

“The higher-than-average rainfall over the past two summers has had an obvious positive impact on this population, and their recovery is astonishing.

“The same population declined by one-third, or around 7,000 bats, in the years preceding the black summer bushfires, so we are thrilled to see it not only bounce back but thrive,” Dr Mills said.

Dr Mills has been monitoring the Eastern Bentwing-bat population at Wee Jasper for more than 15 years.

“I generally get a mixed reaction when I tell people I spend my nights in caves looking for bats, but they are a very special and underestimated species.

“We use thermal imaging and software designed by the US military to record the bats entering and exiting the cave each night. On the camera screen we see hundreds of flashing red dots, each representing an individual bat. This allows us to quickly and accurately count the population and get a better understanding of breeding success as well as the timing of weaning and migration,” he said.

NPWS’ study of Bentwing-bats is undertaken on the national parks’ estate at two of three known maternity populations in NSW, highlighting the critical role of national parks in the effective conservation of threatened species.

For more information on Bentwing-bats, visit: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10534.

• Topics:

• Nature
• Pets and Animals