First Step of Acoustic Monitoring of Bats in Exclusion Zone Completed

The first step of acoustic monitoring of bats on the territory of the Chornobyl exclusion zone under the project “Polissia: Wildlife without Limits” was completed.

It was implemented in cooperation with the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve and the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds.

The aim of the research was to collect data on bat migration during the reproductive period. Ten observation points were installed on the territory of the reserve; they are equipped with receivers, that is, the devices that record the ultrasound or frequency, at which nocturnal mammals communicate.

The recorded data are read and processed in a computer program. The British Trust for Ornithology will deal with it in 2020 and early 2021.

The second step of monitoring will start this autumn. Its task will be studying the population of bats in the exclusion zone.

According to SAUEZM.