On August 29, Bulgaria celebrated European Bat Night. It is celebrated annually in over 30 countries around the world. The Agreement for the Protection of Bats in Europe (EUROBATS) has been in force for Bulgaria since 1999.
Eleven children and young people aged 5 to 14 visited RIOSV – Haskovo on August 29 on the occasion of the European Bat Night.
They got to know interesting facts about the mysterious animal, watched a presentation of SCDZ – Stara Zagora on the treatment of wounded specimens, and painted and made bat masks. In the final, everyone actively participated in the quiz on the topic, for which they won many prizes.
Bats are small animals of the class Mammals. Their distinctive feature is that their front limbs have grown into wings. Bats are the only mammals capable of actively flying, although some species can fly over short distances.
In Bulgaria, 33 species of the possible 35 in Europe are found, and all are insectivores. Bats are very useful because a large part of the insects they eat are pests in agriculture. In urban conditions, they help fight mosquitoes, as one small brown bat can eat about 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.
Bats are one of the most widely common groups of mammals. The ability to fly has helped “scatter them” to different parts of the planet. They inhabit all continents except Antarctica, the northernmost parts of Europe, Asia and America and some remote islands. Bats have adapted to a wide variety of lifestyles and occupy extremely diverse ecological niches.