Boosting our Bats

Bats play a vital role in our local ecosystems even though many of us don't even know when they're there. Although small, each bat can eat up to 1000 insects a night, providing natural control of mosquitoes and other pesky bugs. However, they are also vulnerable to human disturbances, such as land clearing and climate change.

Join the Friends of Bold Park Bushland as we hear all about our local bats from Kelly Sheldrick, a bat ecologist who has worked with bats across Europe, Africa and Australia. For the past three years, she has led community-based bat citizen science projects at the Conservation Council of Western Australia, which have included helping to fill a gap in grassroots bat conservation and research. Her work focuses on understanding bat ecology while engaging the community in conservation.

Kelly will give us a quick introduction to Australia's bats before sharing some of the bat research projects she has been involved in over the past few years. Topics include whether Australian bats exhibit swarming behaviour, the challenges of radio-tracking bats, and why maintaining artificial refuges such as bat boxes is just as important as installing them. Along the way, she'll also discuss some simple ways we can better coexist with these fascinating and often misunderstood animals. 

The talk starts at 6.30pm on Wednesday 22nd July at the WA Ecology Centre in Bold Park.

All are welcome to attend. We kindly ask for a $3 donation on entry to help support the work of the Friends of Bold Park Bushland. Tea, coffee, and a light supper will be provided afterwards.