The Grey Long Eared Bat

This isn't such a good news story.

The Grey Long Eared Bat is listed as "least concern" on the IUCN Red List but it is not faring well in the UK.

Results of research and a conservation management plan recently published by Dr Orly Razgour of Bristol University show that there may be as few as 1000 of them left in the UK. While bat roosts are highly protected, their foraging grounds are not.  Changes to agricultural practices in over the past half century have had the biggest effect on the abundance and accessibility of food. Changes to planning rules which allow developers to build on valuable habitat as long as they create habitat elsewhere could also harm the species as both the foraging and roosting sites must be close.

Image from the Bat Conservation Trust (http://www.bats.org.uk)