Monday, 20 January 2014 - 10:12
British bat journey to Netherlands
The experts have discovered a tiny bat in the Netherlands that crossed the sea from the United Kingdom to Europe and has flown a distance of 600 kilometers.
Bat / Flickr
The little bat, Nathusius' pipistrelle, was ringed in England by Daniel Hargreaves from the charity Bat Conservation Trust in 2012 to record the migratory movements, BBC News reports.
Unfortunately, the tiny bat had died but experts believe that its identification ring could solve a migration mystery. According to experts, this could be the first evidence that the bats migrate across the North Sea.
The bat’s body was discovered by Teddy Dolstra, from the Friesland Mammal Working Group, during routine monitoring of a roost site on the north coast of the Netherlands at the end of last year, according to BBC.
Nathusius' pipistrelles are very small weighing between 6 and 15g and are about the size of a human thumb.
"We have only ringed 34 bats at Blagdon lake so to receive a record like this is astonishing; it's incredible to think that this little bat has flown a distance of at least 600km, avoiding hazards like roads and wind turbines, and for it to safely cross the sea is remarkable," Hargreaves said.