Natterer’s Bat

Found throughout much of the British Isles including some populations up into Scotland and Northern Ireland, although, numbers remain scare.

The UK populations are of international importance and recommendations to conserve Natterer’s bats includes discouraging the conversion of barns and protecting wintering sites.

Their broad wings allow for slow, highly manoeuvrable flight and are recognizable by their distinctive pinkish-coloured limbs.

Few summer roosting sites are known for Natterer’s bats. Most are found in older buildings with large expanses of beams such as castles, timber barns and churches. During winter, these bats hibernate in caves and rocky crevices.

• A dropping sample with sufficient biological material to be used as a reserve is required in case the extraction is unsuccessful the first time: the fresher a sample is, the more likely the test will be able to extract viable DNA.
• Other viable sample types include fur/hair, tissue and blood.