57“Inonestudy,theykeptcatching
thesamebatfor 25 years,identifying
it bytheringonitsarm,”hesays.
Bothspeciesentera stateoftorpor
whentemperaturesarelow,dropping
theircoretemperatureandremaining
motionlessin theirroosttoconserve
energy.
In winter,theymayspendupto 10
daysin thisstateandarethoughtto
onlyventureoutforhoursata time.
Contrarytopopculturebelief,
pekapekadon’ttendtoroostin caves,
cryptsorhauntedhouses.
Theirdaysareinsteadspentsleep-
ingin maturetrees,hidingawayuntil
duskunderloosebarkorin treehol-
lows.
“They selecta tree specificallyfor
itsheatingproperties,”Parissays.
“Theyliketreeswhichwillwarmthem
upduringtheday,andkeepthem
warmerin theafternoon,beforethey
fly out to feed.”
Wheretheytravelis hardtopredict,
butresearchersbelievetheytendto
followwaterwayslikehighwaysand
huntoverlargeopenareassuchas
golfcoursesorschools.
Tobea batenthusiastis to embark
ona journeyof surpriseanddiscov-
ery,however,anddetectingthemin
neworunexpectedterritoryis allpart
ofthefun,Parissays.
“They’veshownupin pineforestsin
Riverhead,aroundTaupo,in com-
pletelyopenfarmlandbyHamilton
Airport.We’relearningthatwecan’t
discountareasbecausethereis no
bush– theyarehangingaroundin
someinterestingplaces.”
Predationandhabitatlossarethe
twobiggestthreatsfacingpekapeka
today,andthelong-tailedandshort-
tailedspeciesareclassedasnation-
allycriticalandnationally vulnerable,
respectively.
Long-tailedbats – the aerial
hunters– arethesmallerofNew
Zealand’sbat species,weighing
just 8-11g.They are a furry chest-
nutbrown,andhavea longtail
attachedto theirhindlegsby
a thinmembrane.
Short-tailedbats are slightly
heavier,andstockierin appear-
ance.Theyhavelarger,triangular
ears,a freetail,andarequickly
identifiedby their crawlingbehav-
iour,whichseesthemfoldtheir
wings away and walk on all fours.In2010,a singlecatkilled 102
short-tailedbatsoverthespaceof a
weeknearRuapehu– provingjust
howvulnerablethecreaturesare,
particularlyduringtheday.Stoats
andratsarealsokeypredators,
nimbleenoughto infiltrateroosts
tofeedonsleepingbats.
Parissaysa lackof research
meansprotectioncanbesubject
toguesswork.
“Weassumea lotbecauseofwhat
weknowaboutbirdsandtheirpreda-
tion,butthereis stilla lotwedon’t
knowaboutournativebatsandhow
wecanbetterprotectthem,”hesays.
1080 pestcontrolandtrapping
is makinga differencein Auckland,
however,andpositiveincreases
in numbershavebeenreportedin
Fiordland’sEglintonValley– thelast
remainingmainlandstrongholdof the
southernshort-tailedbat,whichwent
from an annualdeclinerate of five
percenta year,to anincreaseof eight
percent.
Kauridiebackandthetopplingof
maturetrees,livinganddead,also
threatensthespecies,andwhilelittle
is knowabouthowpekapekaselect
theirroosts,it is believedthepres-
ervationof largetreespeciesis vital
totheirsurvival.
The decliningpekapekais a difficult
speciestoprotect.Theirsize,be-
haviourandshrinkinghabitatmakes
themlargelyinvisibleto humans,and
they’reoftenovershadowedbyfeath-
ery conservation campaigns.“Mostpeoplewouldn’thaveseena
batever,andeventhosewhospend
a lotof timein thebushwillonlyever
see a flittingsilhouetteagainstthe
skyatdusk,andprobablythinkit’s
justa latebird,”Parissays.
Fortunately,thetirelesspassionof
a fewis puttingtheplightofthepeka-
pekaintothepubliceye,andwith
eachseasonthatpasses,thewatch-
ful eyes of the night shift multiplies.YOUR BAT
KNOW
Batdetectorsaresetat
40kHtopickupultrasonic
echolocation callsWILDCONSERVATIONIN2010, A SINGLE
CAT KILLED 102
SHORT-TAILED BATS
OVERTHESPACE OFAWEEKNEARRUAPEHU
- PROVINGJUST
HOW VULNERABLE
THEY ARE