Finding Rare Bats on Catalina

CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCY

PROTECT

SINCE 1972

Finding Rare Bats on Catalina

n the night of July 21st, the wildlife crew sat quietly in the darkness, hoping for an unsuspecting bat to fly into their thin mist-nets. Out of the quiet, wildlife intern, Maura Siciensky, called out, “BAT!” and the biologists burst into action. Time is of the essence to remove the bats before they become stressed or very entangled. As they approached the net, the biologists could not believe their eyes. They were staring at a Pallid bat: a long-eared, big-eyed, scorpion-eating species, that has only been observed once on Catalina almost 90 years ago! Not only was this rare species captured, but it was a juvenile.

“Finding a juvenile Pallid bat is incredibly important to the conservation of this species because it confirms that we have a yearround breeding population instead of a migrantpopulation,” said Conservancy Sr. Wildlife Biologist Emily Hamblen.

This July, the Conservancy wildlife crew collaborated with graduate student Rose Haidar, geneticist Manuel Vasquez and bat researcher Jill Carpenter to conduct a four-night bat survey in search of elusive and rare species. In total, 41 individuals from four species were captured including two California Species of Special Concern: the Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) and the Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii). Both species have declined precipitously in California due to their sensitivity to development. Undeveloped Catalina Island Conservancy land serves as a refugia for these types of rare species. Through this survey, we have found areas to search for four maternal roosts.

“Our next management action is clear. We need

to find the maternal roosts and protect them so the bats can be successful at rearing

their young,” said Hamblen. "We are searching for grant funding to purchase VHF (very high frequency) transmitters. This will allow us to tag the Pallid bats and follow them back to their roosts so we can protect them.”

Once the roosts are found, biologists will be able to take action to protect the colonies. 9