Recently, the common noctule female brought to the Feldman Ecopark Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation by volunteers from Ternopil gave birth to two kids.According to the head of the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation Olena Prylutska, the bat arrived with a serious trauma – a compound forearm fracture in three places, and already pregnant. The wing had to be amputated, but future chеiropteran mother was nursed back to health – it successfully wintered and brought forth.
“Cheiropterans have an interesting feature — delayed fertilization. Bats copulate even in the fall, then they hibernate, and right after awakening, the pregnancy starts and kids appear. Common noctules give birth to 1-2 cubs a year, and the first three weeks after birth they are usually fed with milk, – the head of the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation Olena Prylutska told. — Unfortunately, the noctule mother won’t be able to live in natural habitat without a wing, unlike young growth. As soon as it learns to fly and to eat insects, it will be set free, in the forest”.
She emphasized that these are not the only spring newborns of cheiropterans undergoing rehabilitation in the Centre. Here, after release of most of “patients” remained several individuals demanding tutelage because of medical reasons or childcare.
It should be reminded that the Feldman Ecopark Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation is animal protection organization, unique not only for our country, but also for all Eastern Europe. During five years of its existence, the Centre rescued about 10,000 red-listed representatives of different species of the order Cheiroptera. The rescued and rehabilitated animals come back to the nature. This year, we released a record quantity of cheiropterans – 2500 individuals in the territory of Feldman Ecopark. Besides, it should be reminded that the Centre of Cheiroptera Rehabilitation is one of four projects for which development the fund raising within the charitable campaign “The Art of Mercy” is carried out.
