Greater mouse-eared bat was declared extinct in the UK but ecologists now believe population recovery is possible. For 21 long winters, Britain’s loneliest bat hibernated alone in a disused railway tunnel in Sussex. The male greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) was the only known individual of his kind in the country after he was discovered in 2002 – a decade after the rare species was officially declared extinct.
But the elderly bat could finally find a mate if only he returns to his old haunts – a female greater mouse-eared bat of breeding age has this month been discovered hibernating within the South Downs national park. A second greater mouse-eared bat – the largest British bat species, the size of a small rabbit, with a wingspan stretching in flight to nearly half a metre – has also been found at Dover Castle.
“The finding of a female is rewarding and a remarkable discovery, which brings huge hope for this species,” said Daniel Whitby, an ecologist and founder of the Bat Conservation and Research Unit. It is the first discovery of a female greater mouse-eared bat in Britain since the 1980s.
The Sussex female has been carefully ringed so it can be identified in the future. It was found to be young and of breeding age, although it is not known for certain if it has bred yet. There is now a tense wait to see if the lonely old male returns to the area. This individual was discovered, motionless, overwintering in 2002. Each summer it flew off, destination unknown, but, remarkably, kept returning to his favourite railway tunnel every winter for almost two decades.
