Overview
- Night-vision monitoring at two urban bat sites in northern Germany is detailed in Global Ecology and Conservation as the first scientific documentation of this predation.
- At Bad Segeberg, cameras recorded 30 hunting attempts with 13 confirmed kills and researchers found more than 50 bat carcasses around the colony of up to 30,000 wintering bats.
- At Lüneburg, investigators found bat remains suggesting predation, although cameras did not capture a successful hunt.
- Scientists propose the rats located prey by sensing air currents from bat wings or using whiskers, allowing attacks in near darkness despite poor eyesight.
- The authors warn such contact could enable spillover to rodents and possibly humans and domestic animals, and news coverage has intensified after the footage circulated widely.