An Austrian animal charity has had to buy special fridges to keep starving bats in hibernation and stop pregnant females from giving birth after hundreds of them were trapped in the roof of a skyscraper.

Hundreds of the rare, carnivorous greater noctule bats (Nyctalus lasiopterus) had traveled to Austria from Russia to spend the winter and managed to get into the loft area of a skyscraper in the capital Vienna, but a closed window then meant that they were unable to get out.

By the time they were discovered in the roof of the skyscraper in the Wienerberg area of the Austrian capital Vienna, many had died, and only 190 of them were still alive.

The building authorities notified the Tierschutz Austria animal rescue group when they realized the bats' predicament and the organization had to request assistance from other animal organizations because of the number of bats that needed to be rescued and cared for.

But they also needed to buy special fridges to make sure that the bats did not start to wake up, which was particularly important with regards to the pregnant female bats.

The National Trust advises that although bats are warm-blooded they will drop their body temperature from around 34 degrees Celsius to between 7 and 10 degrees Celsius after finding a cool and dry place to roost and maintain the lower body temperature required for hibernation.

The trust added: "Their metabolism slows right down and their heart rate falls to around ten beats per minute. "

The special fridges will also stop the female bats from fertilizing the eggs and delaying it until the spring when they fly back to Russia and can give birth there.

The organization is currently accepting donations, which can be made to the Wiener Tierschutzverein online here https://www.tierschutz-austria.at/spenden-und-helfen/online-spenden/

Vienna, Austria
Dec. 7, 2021
Source: Tierschutz Austria

#Bats #Animals #Wildlife #Conservation