The jubilee 5th release of bats took place on March 25 in the Regional Landscape Park. This year more than 500 wing-handed animals have flown up into the evening sky. The Kharkiv citizens and residents of other cities saved the bats this winter and the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation of the Ecopark took care and brought them up. Hundreds of Kharkiv citizens arrived to participate in traditional release of bats. For the convenience of guests the Feldman Ecopark organized a number of additional bus runs.
“Our Centre – is unique organization not only in Ukraine, but also in all Eastern Europe which systematically and intentionally deals with rescue of bats. Our experience is exigent and demanded abroad, we regularly speak at the international conferences, receive foreign guests, we participate in joint projects, – the head of the Ecopark’s Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation, Anton Vlashchenko Cand. Sc. (Biology) told. – Except direct rescue of bats and scientific work on them, the Centre is actively involved in educational activity. Our volunteers lead discussions, first of all with youth, operate the pages and groups in social networks, distribute leaflets and calendars. And results are visually demonstrated by the growing number of people contacting us – in winter season people almost daily rang with a request to arrive and to take away the found chiropterans or bring the foundlings. It means that people began to treat these small animals with unfairly “tainted” reputation” more humanly and responsibly.
Foreign biologists – the specialists in wing-handed animals from Poland were the guests of a current zoo protective event. They have specially arrived from Warsaw to speak with the Ukrainian colleagues and to get acquainted with successful working experience of the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation of Feldman Ecopark.
“We have no such specialized Centre yet but we will surely try to create it. Certainly, it’ll take time – it is necessary to study the EU legislation on the subject, to prepare legal justification, to carry out public hearings, to find sponsors. However, after everything we saw today, the experience and knowledge acquired in Kharkiv will be powerful motivation for our forthcoming work”, – the graduate student of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Warsaw University of Life Sciences/SGGW) Katazhina Blokh shared impressions.
It should be reminded that bat rescue and rehabilitation programme is implemented in Feldman Ecopark since 2013. During the time of its existence, the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation rescued the lives of 5,000 Red List animals.
