Lesser horseshoe bat

The Lesser horseshoe bat is spread from Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco, through Southern Europe and North Africa to Kyrgyzstan and Kashmir, the Arabian Peninsula, Sudan and Ethiopia. In Bulgaria it is distributed throughout the country, in the mountains it reaches 1 500 m above sea level.

The Lesser horseshoe bat is a cave species, associated primarily karst areas with rich vegetation, sparse forests, parks, shrubs, and is found in settlements. It’s fur is grey-brown above and greyish-white below. It feeds on small flying insects. Hunts near shelters (usually up to 5 km) around forests; shrubs; river banks overgrown with vegetation; above the water itself, around rocks in karst areas. Relatively social species, but in summer males and females live separately. Summer shelters are various – buildings (basements, attics), caves, artificial galleries, rock formations and more. Hibernation is from October to April in caves and artificial underground galleries. The species winters singly or in rare groups, with a distance between individuals – up to 50 cm. Copulation usually takes place in autumn, but also during hibernation and in spring. Pregnancy lasts about 10 weeks. The species forms breeding groups in May-June, most often in buildings composed of 5-30 adult females. They give birth to a naked and blind offspring between mid-June and mid-July. Life expectancy is up to over 20 years.

Favorable.

The Lesser horseshoe 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 Lesser horseshoe 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”.