Overview
- Peer-reviewed work in Global Ecology and Conservation provides the first systematic evidence in urban Europe of brown rats actively preying on bats, including mid-air captures.
- Infrared and thermal cameras monitored Segeberger Kalkberg and Lüneburg-Kalkberg between 2020 and 2024, revealing interceptions of flying bats and attacks on grounded individuals.
- At Segeberg, cameras documented 30 predation attempts and 13 kills over five weeks, and researchers found a cache of 52 bat carcasses; similar remains were discovered at Lüneburg.
- The authors estimate a small rat colony could remove up to about 7% of roughly 30,000 bats at Segeberg in a single winter, with predation occurring during swarming and hibernation.
- The study urges targeted invasive-rodent control at key hibernacula within a One Health framework, noting near-darkness hunts likely relied on whisker-sensed airflow rather than vision.