Long-tailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) hibernating in farm buildings near Geraldine, South Canterbury

Abstract

Abstract Between 1957 and 1981, eleven long-tailed bats have been found in the Geraldine district. Six of these were hibernating in farm buildings. Ten Slightings of flying bats and one subfossil greater short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata robusta) have also been reported since the 1940s. No colony has been located, but one is believed to exist in an area of caves and limestone outcrops near Raincliff Bridge on the Opihi River. There are no other confirmed records of any species of bat east of the Southern Alps from Marlborough to Southland—a distance of over 500 km—since last century. New Zealand's bats are rarely found in buildings, unlike some species in Britain and Europe. That the long-tailed bat can hibernate in farm buildings could be important for the survival of this endemic species where suitable caves and hollow trees are scarce.