Super-colony of endangered bats discovered near Norwich, UK 

Bats have been on the human radar ever since many scientists around the world have concluded that the coronavirus may have had its origins in one of their species. But this time, the animals are in the news for an entirely different reason. Turns out, one of Britain’s most endangered bats called barbastelle bats has the centre of their super-colony right in the middle of the road near Norwich, United Kingdom. In fact, they have recently been discovered in the path of a proposed new short-cut route (called Western Link Dual Carriageway) that runs across a chalk stream.  

Guess how this was found out? Well, researchers were looking into this particular species of bats as they had recently threatened the woodlands of Wensum valley. And now, they have realised that the proposed 3.9 mile road is part of their super-colony. In fact, two-thirds of it are within the 1.6 mile radius of the road. As many as 94 individual roost trees in this area show signs of being colonised by barbastelle bats, more than a hundred in number.  

Keeping this in mind, the highway plan is being asked to drop by the scientists and instead include this region under the Special Area of Conversation (SAC) by the government. In fact, experts from Norfolk Wildlife Trust have requested that it be declared as a unique hotspot where biggest number of barbastelle bats reside. A source has even cited that the species require a large habitat to maintain their ecological health and constructing a dual carriageway right through it will be a mistake.  

With all these in mind, Natural England, the government’s conservation watchdog has thus added Wensum woodlands and its adjacent area (where at least 20 to 30 colonies live) as part of the list of sites of special scientific interest. In fact, many British scientific journals have published over the years that the barbastelle bats are rare and woodland-dwelling organisms that need unusually large foraging areas to thrive.  

What’s interesting here is that, earlier in 2018, when the Broadland Northway was established, it completely wrecked two colonies of barbastelle bats within a 2.5 kilometre radius. Experts suggest this may have been a result of the bats crashing with high-speed vehicles.  

If you were wondering how the Western Link would have helped, the reasons are multiple. For instance, the traffic on the local roads would have reduced, the travel time would have been cut short in turn contributing to economic growth. Moreover, it would shorten response times for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.  

However, before final decision is taken, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust has sought the need for conducting adequate bat surveys in the region for better judgement. The previous ones done by them in 2019 and 2020 were insufficient, as per latest reports.