Of the 213 threatened bat species, 18% (38 species) are in Oceania, as were four of the five most recent bat extinctions. The threats to this bat fauna are directly related to increasing human populations.
Bats are the only native terrestrial mammals of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, with nine species, six of which are endemic and five categorized as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Two large Pteropus species are known to be overhunted for food and two further fruit and/or blossom species are not hunted, but little is known of the ecology of the five species of microchiroptera.
To address the poor knowledge of this bat fauna, the Institut Agronomique néo-Calédonien and the Lubee Bat Conservancy, USA, with support from the Woodtiger Fund, launched a new partnership in 2021 to conserve two of New Caledonia's most threatened bats. The Endangered New Caledonia blossom bat Notopteris neocaledonica is one of only two species in its genus and has only two known roosts. The Critically Endangered New Caledonia long-eared bat Nyctophilus nebulosus was previously known from only one location and had not been detected since 2002 despite intensive acoustic monitoring during 2016–2017. Both species are at risk of extinction because they are poorly known, are not monitored, and no one is working on their conservation.
Our survey of one of the historic roosting sites of N. neocaledonica in June 2022 showed that 12 years after the previous scientific visit the colony was still occupying its cave, and the population is estimated to be larger than previously known, with several hundreds of bats (from 200 to up to 710 from a direct roost count and an evening dispersal count, respectively). Attempts to identify other roosts, to enhance our knowledge of the species’ distribution and any threats, are in progress.
In intensive acoustic surveys for N. nebulosus we are attempting to locate roosts and determine any threats to the species. On 18 nights during September 2021–June 2022, we identified likely Nyctophilus calls, using automatic ultrasound detectors, in the species historical location. These surveys continue.
Improvement of our knowledge of these species, and assessment of their conservation status, will be used to develop species conservation action plans, a crucial action needed to convince local managers to implement conservation strategies to protect the bats of New Caledonia.
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