Annual cycle of bats in a cave of Jebel Errwa, a sub-desert zone of central Tunisia

Vol. 32 No. 3 (2019)
Published: 5 September 2019
Chiroptera, cave, nursery, protection, northwest Africa
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Authors

Ridha Dalhoumi
ridhadalhoumi@gmail.com
Laboratoire de Biosurveillance de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia.
Patricia Aissa
Laboratoire de Biosurveillance de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia.
Hamouda Beyrem
Laboratoire de Biosurveillance de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia.
Stéphane Aulagnier
Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage, Université de Toulouse, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, CS 52627, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan Cedex, France.

Bat use of the “Bat cave” of Jebel Errwa (central Tunisia) was studied over one year. A maximum of 650 bats were found during diurnal and nocturnal surveys. Maximum activity at emergence was reported in late spring and early summer when the cave was occupied by nurseries of Myotis punicus, Rhinolophus euryale, Rhinolophus mehelyi and Miniopterus schreibersii. Females gave birth in May in the largest, moistest and coolest room of the roost; young started to fly in June and left the cave in August. Despite frequent disturbance by visitors, “Bat Cave” of Jebel Errwa is one of the most important underground sites in central Tunisia and should be protected.

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Dalhoumi, R., Aissa, P., Beyrem, H., & Aulagnier, S. (2019). Annual cycle of bats in a cave of Jebel Errwa, a sub-desert zone of central Tunisia. Tropical Zoology, 32(3), 155–165. Retrieved from https://www.pagepress.org/biology/tz/article/view/24

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