CONSERVATION ISSUES: Brown long-eared bats are particularly vulnerable to water pollution and habitat loss, especially the destruction of hollow trees. They are also extremely sensitive to the toxic timber treatments used in attic spaces. Occasionally they are caught by domestic cats when they hunt close to the ground.

Protecting Legislation:

• Schedules 5, 6 and 7 of the Wildlife (NI) Order 1985
  
• Annex IV of the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats and Species Directive).
  
• Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (1979)
  
• Included under the Agreement on the Conservation of Bats in Europe (1991)
  

© Jon Russ 2001. Text refereed by Angela Ross & Lynne Rendle.

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