For more than two decades, researchers knew of just a single, male individual of the greater mouse-eared bat that would repeatedly hibernate in an unused railway tunnel in Sussex, U.K. This male bat became known as the “loneliest soul in Britain” since he was without a companion.
But researchers have now found that he isn’t alone after all: they’ve confirmed two female individuals of the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) hibernating in the U.K.
Bat experts from the Sussex Bat Group, Bat Conservation and Research Unit (BatCRU) and Vincent Wildlife Trust announced on Jan. 23 that they’d found a healthy 28-gram (1-ounce) adult female individual hibernating in South Downs National Park.
BatCRU founder Daniel Whitby, who was among those who caught the bat and attached a ring on it for future identification and monitoring, said they were able to identify the female as a greater mouse-eared bat due to its especially large size, among other features. “It’s bigger than any other UK species,” he told Mongabay by email.
Nick Gray of the Sussex Bat Group told Mongabay by email that they were “excited to discover that this was a breeding female, which has the potential to stay in the area to give birth and to attract other males of the same species.”
The greater mouse-eared bat was initially declared extinct in the U.K. in 1992, until the lone hibernating male was discovered in 2002.
While the species is present throughout the rest of Europe, it’s considered rare in the U.K. “It has not so far been detected [in the country] outside of the hibernation period, leading us to believe that it may be flying to and from mainland Europe and only venturing to the UK for hibernation, for which it favours underground sites,” Gray said.
Whitby added the species is considered vagrant since it’s been found outside its normal range, “but this female gives hope it may be breeding here.”
More exciting news came on Jan. 27 as ecologists confirmed another female individual of the species at Dover Castle, an iron-age fortress in Kent, a county neighboring Sussex.
“We were gobsmacked to find a very large bat, which looked somewhat like a Natterer’s [Myotis nattereri] that had overdone it at the gym and taken too many steroids!” Claire Munn, principal ecologist at the consultancy South East Ecology, said in a statement.
“We’re all very excited! This was fantastic news!” Gray said, adding it was the first time since 1980 that the species was spotted in the U.K. outside of Sussex.
Munn added the find shows the importance of preserving heritage sites, which have become a refuge for many species, especially bats that need to hibernate undisturbed.
The bat groups are working to ensure the protection of the species’ habitat, especially since South Downs National Park “is currently under threat from redevelopment by the National Park Authority itself,” Gray said.
Banner image of a greater mouse-eared bat, courtesy of Daniel Whitby/BatCRU.
