Greater mouse-eared bat

The Greater mouse-eared bat is distributed in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. It’s relatively rare species for Northern and Western Europe, Asia Minor, Lebanon, Israel.

In Bulgaria it is widespread in karst areas throughout the country and is one of the most common cave species. In the Western and Central Stara Planina it is established up to 1 400 m above sea level, and in Pirin – at 2 500 m a. s. l.

The Greater mouse-eared bat is one of the largest bats found in Bulgaria. The color of the fur is grey-brown above and light grey below. The wings are broad, their membrane is dark gray. The ears are wide and oval. It forms numerous, noisy, summer colonies in caves. Inhabits sparse forests, parks, meadows. It feeds on large insects (moths, beetles, crickets, etc.) in open places in sparse forests and their edges, where the ground is covered with fallen leaves and some grass. It catches its prey in flight or collects them from various surfaces – most often from the ground. During the summer it inhabits caves, rarely dark parts of buildings, hollows of trees. The bat winters in caves, mining galleries, etc., choosing places with high humidity and temperatures in the range of 7-12 °C. It usually hangs freely on the ceilings of caves. It breeds mainly in autumn, less often in spring. Usually one male attracts a “harem” of 4-5 females. Pregnancy is 50-60 days. During the summer, the males live mostly by themselves, and the females form colonies, where they give birth (in late May – early June) and raise one naked and blind little.

Unfavourable-inadequate.

The Greater mouse-eared bat is strictly protected species included in Annexes 2 and 3 of the Biodiversity Act (BDA); Annex II of the Bern Convention and Bonn Convention. The species is also included in Annex II and Annex IV of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive). The Greater mouse-eared bat is included in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species with category Least Concern (LC).

*Note: For the description of bats is used information from: Golemanski, V. & al. (eds). 2015. Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Vol. 2. Animals. BAS & MoEW, Sofia [English ed.: ISBN 978-954-9746-22-8 (IBER – BAS), 978-954-8497-18-3 (MoEW)]; the website of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature); the website of the Federation of nature conservation NGOs “Green Balkans”.