Threatened Species Commissioner April 24, 2015
Bats have a scary image, but what’s scarier still is how many species ofbats are nationally threatened. One such species is the critically endangered southern bent-wing bat, which now has its own draft recovery plan out for public comment until 1 July.
The draft plan aims to find out why numbers of the cave-dwelling Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii have fallen so sharply, to arrest the decline and to increase population numbers. The Australian Government this year committed $50,000 towards this cause, funding work to obtain accurate population estimates and trends at one of the species' remaining two breeding sites. The population of southern bent-wing bats, found in south-east South Australia and western Victoria, was once estimated at over 200,000 individuals but is now believed to be less than 50,000.
Have your say on the draft recovery plan here:
http://www.environment.gov.au/…/draft-southern-bent-wing-bat
Linda F. Lumsden and Micaela L. Jemison, 2015
- Draft National Recovery Plan for the Southern Bent-wing Bat Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii (PDF - 1.01 MB)
- Draft National Recovery Plan for the Southern Bent-wing Bat Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii (DOC - 1.11 MB)
This document constitutes the draft National Recovery Plan for the Southern Bent-wing Bat Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii. The recovery plan sets out the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, the threatened Southern Bent-wing Bat. The Southern Bent-wing Bat is listed as critically endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), listed as threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 in Victoria where it is considered critically endangered and listed as endangered under theNational Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in South Australia. It is also listed as endangered in the Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012, under the revised taxonomic name of Miniopterus orianae bassanii. The long-term recovery objective is to ensure that the Southern Bent-wing Bat can survive, flourish and retain its potential for evolutionary development in the wild.
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