Bat Conservation International
Charitable trust
FormationOctober 2, 1982 (age 43)
Full nameBat Conservation International Inc.
AbbreviationBCI
Tax id74-2553144
FounderMerlin D. Tuttle[1]
OriginsMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Region servedWorldwide
Board ChairCharles Chester, Ph.D.
Executive DirectorMike Daulton
Board of directorsCharles Chester, Ph.D.; Gary Dreyzin; Gerald Carter, Ph.D.; Ann George; Brock Fenton, Ph.D.; Dr. Shahroukh Mistry; Jenn Stephens, MBA; Nancy Simmons, Ph.D.; Andy Sansom, Ph.D.; Maria Mathis-Kruser; George 'Timo' Hixon; Alexander R. (Sandy) Read; Donald R. Kendall, Jr., MBA; Eileen Arbues; Roger Still
Websitewww.batcon.org
Status501(c)(3)
FocusEnvironmentalism, Conservation
HeadquartersAustin, Texas

Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts.

BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, who led the organization until his retirement in 2009.[2] Since its establishment, BCI has formed partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and many national and international agencies and nonprofits, and has produced publications, workshops, scholarships, and research, and site-specific projects in the US and internationally. BCI employs a staff of 30 biologists, educators, and administrators and has members in 60 countries.

Conservation strategies

BCI operates by its "10 critical conservation strategies": 1) Accelerating scientific research 2) Preventing extinction 3) Protecting intact areas with highly diverse bat communities 4) Preserving megapopulations of bats 5) Creating global and regional partnerships 6) Addressing threats impacting multiple species at multiple sites 7) Promoting community-based bat conservation 8) Creating and enforcing legal and policy frameworks 9) Developing and perfecting important technology 10) Investing in future conservation leadership[3]

Addressing serious threats

BCI funds and participates in research to mitigate damage to bat populations. Some of the threats previously or currently addressed include:

Protecting megapopulations

Being colonial, many bat species form colonies that can consist of millions of individuals.[5] Because some bat species are highly aggregated, entire species can be threatened by disturbance to a small number of roosts.[6] BCI seeks to protect these roosts of high aggregations, or "mega-populations."[4] Some ways that BCI works to protect megapopulations are:

  • Determining the effects of cave gates on bat usage of caves[4]
  • Purchasing land with important caves, such as Bracken Cave, home of the world's largest bat colony[7]
  • Using education and outreach to protect bat roosts from purposeful eradication, such as the colony at the Congress Avenue Bridge that was initially unwelcome[8]

Preventing extinction

In their 2014–2018 Strategic Plan, BCI identified 35 critically endangered or endangered species of bats as priority species that will receive a concentrated focus of research and conservation efforts to hopefully prevent their extinction.[4] BCI is also a member of the Alliance for Zero Extinction, which seeks to safeguard the last habitats of critically endangered species.[3]

In 2022, Bat Conservation International (BCI) has employed the use of high accuracy workflow via GIS (Global Information System) to survey abandoned mines in New Mexico.[9] They survey habitats that can support favorable conditions (right moisture and temperature, absence of predators, and other factors); protecting habitats helps the native population of bats to avoid extinction. BCI has a team of 30 employees who manages the preservation of 35 endangered bat species with 3 species endemic to the United States. In conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other government regional land management organizations, BCI collects data to locate these sites. Moreover, topographical maps provided by the USGS (United States Geological Service) and two Arrow 100 Global Navigation satellites System (GNSS) have been used to navigate terrains and locate entrances or gateways to prospective abandon mines that can be used by the bat populations. Sites are then evaluated by using Survey123 (a data collection application) to analyze and disseminate data (temperature, humidity, guano concentrations that determines concentration of food sources, etc.). 785 mines in the vicinity of Palomas Gap, Timber Mountain, Rincon Basin, Burbank Canyon, and Brushy Mountain have been selected by the BCI team as candidate locations. As reported from the ArcNews Winter 2022 issue, BCI has completed evaluating about 308 sites that yielded 8 habitats with evidence of bat activity.

Common nameSpecies nameIUCN conservation statusRange
Indiana batMyotis sodalisNT (formerly EN)[10]Eastern U.S.
Florida bonneted batEumops floridanusVU (formerly CR)[11]Southern Florida
Greater long-nosed batLeptonycteris nivalisEN[12]Southwest U.S., Mexico
Jamaican greater funnel-eared batNatalus jamaicensisCR[13]Jamaica
Paraguana moustached batPteronotus paraguanensisEN[14]Venezuela
Fernandez's sword-nosed batLonchorhina fernandeziEN[15]Venezuela
Marinkelle's sword-nosed batLonchorhina marinkelleiVU (formerly EN)[16]Colombia
Choco broad-nosed batPlatyrrhinus chocoensisVU (formerly EN)[17]Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
Ecuadorian sac-winged batBalantiopteryx infuscaVU (formerly EN)[18]Ecuador, Colombia
Smokey batAmorphochilus schnabliiVU (formerly EN)[19]Ecuador, Chile
Lesser yellow-shouldered batSturnira nanaEN[20]Peru, Ecuador
Lamotte's roundleaf batHipposideros lamotteiCR[21]Border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea
Maclaud's horseshoe batRhinolophus maclaudiEN[22]Guinea
Ziama horseshoe batRhinolophus ziamaEN[23]Guinea, Liberia
Hill's horseshoe batRhinolophus hilliCR[24]Rwanda
Rodrigues flying foxPteropus rodricensisCR[25]Rodrigues
Seychelles sheath-tailed batColeura seychellensisCR[26]Seychelles
Golden-crowned flying foxAcerodon jubatusEN[27]The Philippines
Philippine bare-backed fruit batDobsonia chapmaniCR[28]The Philippines
Marianas flying foxPteropus mariannusEN[29]Northern Mariana Islands, Guam
Pacific sheath-tailed batEmballonura semicaudataEN[30]American Samoa, Fiji, Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tonga
Bulmer's fruit batAproteles bulmeraeCR[31]Papua New Guinea
New Guinea big-eared batPharotis imogeneCR[32]Papua New Guinea
Bougainville monkey-faced batPteralopex ancepsEN[33]Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Greater monkey-faced batPteralopex flanneryiCR[34]Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands
Guadalcanal monkey-faced batPteralopex atrataEN[35]Solomon Islands
Makira flying foxPteropus cognatusEN[36]Solomon Islands
Montane monkey-faced batPteralopex pulchraCR[37]Solomon Islands
New Georgia monkey-faced batPteralopex takiEN[38]Solomon Islands
Temotu flying foxPteropus nitendiensisEN[39]Solomon Islands
Vanikoro flying foxPteropus tuberculatusCR[40]Solomon Islands
Banks flying foxPteropus fundatusEN[41]Vanuatu
Fijian monkey-faced batMirimiri acrodontaCR[42]Fiji
Fijian mastiff batChaerephon bregullaeEN[43]Fiji, Vanuatu

Political advocacy

In addition to promoting scientific research on bats and their conservation, BCI is also involved in public policy. BCI announces opposition to legislation to mobilize its members against it, such as with Pennsylvania House Bill 1576, which would have changed how threatened and endangered species are protected in the state.[4] In the future, BCI plans to increase its engagement in legislative and policy efforts to conserve bats.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Merlin D. Tuttle - Our Founder". Archived 2011-04-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  2. ^ "The Founder Passes the Baton". Bat Conservation International. Archived 2023-05-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  3. ^ "A Five-Year Plan for Global Bat Conservation". batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. October 2013. Archived April 17, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  4. ^ "Annual Report 2013-2014". batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. August 2014. Archived July 7, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  5. ^ Betke, M., Hirsh, D. E., Makris, N. C., McCracken, G. F., Procopio, M., Hristov, N. I., ... & Crampton, S. (2008). Thermal imaging reveals significantly smaller Brazilian free-tailed bat colonies than previously estimated. Journal of Mammalogy, 89(1), 18–24.
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  8. ^ "Congress Avenue Bridge". batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. Retrieved May 1, 2017.[dead link]
  9. ^ "Where the Bats Go: To Locate Potential Habitats in Abandoned Mines, Organization Employs a High-Accuracy GIS-Based Workflow". ArcNews. 44 (1): 18–19. 2022.
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  34. ^ Lavery, T.H. (2017). "Pteralopex flanneryi". doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T136587A21998747.en
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  43. ^ Waldien, D.L.; Scanlon, A.; Thompson, B.L.; Sherwin, R.E.; Naikatini, A.; Tikoca, S. (2019). "Chaerephon bregullae". doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T4309A22020149.en