Endangered bat found in Hatay

HATAY – Doğan News Agency

An endangered Mediterranean horseshoe bat has been found in the Sugediği-3 lava tube inn in the southern province of Hatay’s Hassa district. 

The bat was found by the Turkish Nature Protection Association’s Hatay official Abdullah Öğünç and academics examining the lava tubes. The bat, the scientific name of which is Rhinolophus euryale, Blasius 1853, is on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Öğünç said a crowded hibernation colonies of males of this species was detected in the lava tube on March 19. 

“This species, which reaches sexual maturity in nearly two years, copulates once a year and gives birth to one baby only,” he added.