Bats in Richmond Park

Richmond Park covers almost 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of Greater London and supports over 100,000 trees making it an incredibly important site for bats.

Brown Long Eared. Credit: Hugh Clark and Bat Conservation TrustPotentially, it can support 11 of the UK’s 17 bat species, each of which are adapted to different niches within the woodland, grassland, parkland and wetland habitats of the Park. To find out which bats had made the Park their home, we funded trapping surveys with a top bat expert.

The aim of the survey was to build a solid database of records that could be used as a baseline for the future. Over ten nights, with the help of many willing volunteers, nearly 150 bats of eight species were caught in harp traps and mist nets before being identified and safely re-released into the Park.

It’s vital that the Park is protected to ensure that the bats can continue to use Richmond Park as an island sanctuary within a sea of built-up London.