Rare bats to be moved in world first

Twenty rare short-tailed bats will be moved from the Tararua Ranges to predator-free Kapiti Island in an attempt to complete the world's first successful bat translocation.

Previous attempts to relocate bat populations failed because bats have a powerful homing instinct and simply fly back to where they came from.

But Department of Conservation (DOC) staff aim to beat the homing instinct by shifting juveniles before they develop it.

DOC bat scientist Brian Lloyd said it would be a major breakthrough -- and a world first -- if the trial worked.

The bat pups, born in the Christmas-New Year week, had been raised at Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre near Eketahuna, and were now learning to fly.

The pups weighed up to 14g and could fit into the palm of a hand. They were from a genetically distinct subspecies of short-tailed bats discovered in the Waiohine Valley in the Tararuas.

The population of about 200 was believed to be in decline, and was the only known colony of the subspecies south of Wanganui.

The 20 pups would be transported by road to Paraparaumu Beach and by boat to Kapiti Island, where they would be inspected and weighed.

After a few weeks in captivity on Kapiti Island, during which DOC hoped they would develop a homing instinct for their roosting boxes, they would be released.

Conservation Minister Chris Carter said it was a risky trial, but worthwhile.

"A willingness to push boundaries and try new things is exactly what conservation in New Zealand needs," he said.

Dr Lloyd had been researching short-tailed bats for 10 years and believed there was a lack of support for bat conservation, compared with the support for birds.

He described bats as "high-tech", socially complex animals, with extraordinary judgment of distance and an amazing metabolism management and thermal regulatory systems.

They also sang to win the affection of their mating partners.

However, they had struggled to adapt in the past century to the removal of lowland forest and the introduction of predators.

- NZPA