bats threatened by wind turbines and thermal renovation

Often associated with vampires, the bat has a bad reputation. However, she is harmless. There are 36 species in France. Among them are noctules. Today, they are threatened with extinction. Laurent Arthur has been studying these creatures for over 40 years. According to him, the first responsible for this decline are wind turbines. It is during their only migration that they are mowed down in mid-flight.

“Either the blades hit the bats, or the pressure just before the blade explodes their internal organs”, he explains. Several operators have reportedly agreed to slow down or stop their blades at night, when bats are most active. In the wild, many bats live inside cities. Another threat then awaits these mammals: the thermal renovation of old buildings.