If your parents are anything like mine, you’ve probably been advised to run away from bats because they’re basically vampires who will bite you or get tangled into your hair and you won’t get out of it alive. However, these are urban legends and I hope you’ve learnt that bats are harmless by now and baby bats are actually pretty darn cute.
Case in point:
Now that you’re not terrified of them, did you know that bats are endangered, but you can help save them by adopting one? If you’re still sceptical, bear in mind that it’s a metaphorical adoption, so you don’t actually have to take one.
“Adopt a Bat” is a programme developed by the Public Institution Nature Park Medvednica for bat lovers and those who are yet to become bat lovers.
The Veternica Cave is located within the Park area. This cave is a habitat for 18 different bat species, which is an extremely high number considering the fact that 35 species of bats live in Croatia.
The species found in Veternica are:
Veliki potkovnjak (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) Širokouhi mračnjak (Barbastella barbastellus) Mali potkovnjak (Rhinolophus hipposideros) Kasni noćnjak (Eptesicus serotinus) Resasti šišmiš (Myotis nattereri) Dugouhi šišmiš (Plecotus auritus) Oštrouhi šišmiš (Myotis blythii) Riječni šišmiš (Myotis daubentonii) Veliki šišmiš (Myotis myotis) Dugokrili pršnjak (Miniopterus schreibersi) Južni potkovnjak (Rhinolophus euryale) Vlasasti šišmiš (Myotis emarginatus) Velikouhi šišmiš (Myotis bechsteinii) Dugoušan (Plecotus macrobularis)
Even though they have very few natural predators (mostly owls and cats), bats are endangered. Their most significant enemy are humans because they change bats’ habitats with different economic projects (knocking down old trees, water management projects etc.), excessively use pesticides and disturb or destroy bats’ summer or winter habitats.
By adopting a bat as an individual, at a price of 150 HRK you will get:
• Certificate “My bat lives in the Veternica Cave!”
• Card “Ivan Ivić – bat adopter” with a picture of the adopted species
• 2 free visits to Veternica
• T-shirt with a drawing of a bat
• Medvednica Nature Park will publish your name and the name of the bat you adopted
You can also adopt bats as a group, association or a company.
Find out more here
