Vitalii Hukov
Bat hibernacula are key sites for long-term population survival and need special conservation efforts. For today we identified two groups of mines with more than thousand hibernating bats of four species in the North-eastern Ukraine (territory without natural caves). We identified the short- and long-term threats for these hibernacula. The project is targeted to prevent these threats, and to search the summer habitats of hibernated bats for building the conservation strategy both for summer and winter sites.
Partial albinos of M. daubentonii in Liptsy mines, August 2017.
Since 1999 our bat-research-team has carried out inventory of underground sites suitable for bat hibernation in the North-eastern Ukraine (territory without natural caves). As the result we identified and monitored five mines of two mine systems. These were winter roosting sites for more than 1000 bats of four species. One of the mine systems (Liptsy mines) is included to the List of International Important Underground Sites for Bats in Europe by EUROBATS Agreement. The other one (Tetlega mines) should be listed too on the base of the large number and diversity of bats inhabiting there. We identified the short- and long-term threats for these hibernacula and bat population associated with them. We have held 17 and 10 years bat population monitoring in the mines, and 13 year-old monitoring in swarming place also included in the EUROBATS List too. This monitoring program is one of the few bat population monitoring programs in Ukraine.
The project’s goals are:
1) to prevent the collapse of mines’ entrances;
2) to realize informational and educational work on important hibernacula for bat conservation, and search the best ways for legal protection;
3) to estimate mammal predation on hibernated bats and develop the strategy for protection of bats from predators;
4) to carry out the field searching of the summer habitats of bats hibernated in the mines, for development conservation strategy shared by both habitats;
5) to continue the monitoring and to re-estimate the extrapolation of bat numbers in the mines.
As a result we plan: to retard the collapse of mines’ entrances for the next 15-20 years; to heighten the population survival of wintering bats; to collect data necessary for effective conservation management of these bat population; confirmed with Local Authority an Action Plan of future conservation according to European rules for these hibernacula. It will be the level up of the bat hibernacula conservation and monitoring for Eastern Ukraine.