Scientists in România suffer the same fate as
most other people, the lack of funds,
especially in any work connected with conservation. Very little work is
carried out if it does not directly or indirectly involve monetary
rewards. Like many governments, what is said about conservation and
natural history and what is done are two different things. The
Trust has helped (due to the
chairman being a member of the Kent Bat Group) several scientists
working in the field of bats (Chiroptera), a species totally
protected in the UK but has no protection in România.
The
first person helped by the Trust
was the director of the Natural History Museum in Bucuresti, who has
been working with bats for many years. He now has an assistant working
on all the bat projects.
The second scientist the Trust
helped with equipment, information, advice and arrangements to attend a
European Bat Research Symposium Conference in Holland, lives in Cluj. He
is a professor lecturing at the university on small mammals. Most of his
work with bats is 
carried
out in his own time and at his own expense. The
Trust has visited some of the caves
in the area and seen some wonderful sites of many hundreds, and
sometimes thousands, of bats. These caves are protected and suffer
disturbance from visitors, cavers and even school parties. Most of the
caves in the Mintii Bihor Region hold a good number of bats. In one
cave, in April, we found 1250 Mouse-eared Bats (Myotis myotis)
and 250 Greater Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum). This
cave
had a low ceiling, sometimes down to four feet, which made it difficult
to walk about as the bats were hanging down and knocking on our heads.
The professor and his students only had a torch and a carbide head lamp
which produced a flame dangerously close to the hanging bats. With the
help of the Trust they now have new
battery head lamps, as well as all the equipment needed for research
which will make their work easier and safer for the bats. Another cave,
I was told, held a breeding colony of Schreiber's bats (Miniopterus
Schreibersii), approx. 3000, three weeks before I arrived. The
problem 
was,
it was very difficult to enter the cave as it had a fast flowing river
running out of the entrance. The only way to enter was along two railway
lines supported on unstable posts, so I asked the professor to see if
they were still there before I tried the railway lines. The professor
came back a few minutes later and told me that most of the bats had left
and there were only a few 
left,
about 700. I soon decided to risk the railway and was rewarded with an
incredible sight. Up there on the roof of the cave were the largest
maternity group I had ever seen, with some of them flying around.
It is difficult to study any bats that are using
buildings, especially ones that are occupied, as most Romanians do not
like bats, and many are still superstitious about them. Although there
is not a tradition of vampire bats in România, they are still
believed to be evil. There are only a handful of people working with
bats in România and several organisations working for the
protection of the environment, but how do you involve people in an
environmental problem when they have serious problems of survival
themselves.
Bats can be numerous in the evenings, flying low when
feeding. Although Noctule's (Nyctalus noctula) prefer holes in
trees, they have found another place to roost. Many of the old
electricity poles are being replaced with tubular concrete ones that are
hollow, and Noctule's can be found using them. The latest find with Ioan
Curuio (April 00) was a colony of 45Khz pipistrelles (Pipistrellus
pygmaus) over the upstairs window of a tourist hotel, this being (as far
as I know) the first discovery of this species in România.
România
still has wild bear, wolves, lynx and many other species living in the
vast tracks of forest and woodland. In a country with many economic
problems it is always the environment that takes a back seat. It is
strange that many of the birds and animals in România do not seem
to show the same fear of man as that found in the west. You can approach
very close to most of them, even the larger or rarer ones. It's a
wonderful sight to see ten Black Storks (Ciconia nigra) circling
over the Romanian/Ukrainian border as well as finding seven of them
sitting in a field along side the road. Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo
rufinus) sitting on a telephone pole not moving even when approached
by a group of people. Pairs of Cuckoo's (Cuculus canorus) flying
in the open, Ravens (Corvus corax) and even a Golden Eagle (Aquila
chrysaetos) flying over the Turda Gorge. A flock of Hoopoes (Upupa
epops) flying along side of the car only 3 feet away.
România is an amazing place for wildlife, with
vast areas uninhabited. Many of these areas containing only herds of
sheep or goats, along with their shepherds and their
dogs. Some of the dogs still have spiked collars to protect their necks
from wolves. Some of these have short chains hanging from the collars
with a piece of wood on the end of the chain in the shape of a "T".
This, I think, is to stop the dogs from running away?
Many of the shepherds wear untreated
sheepskin that keeps the rain, snow and wind off of them better than any
of the modern protective coats. They look a little like Yeti's. România
now has wildlife holidays especially for seeing the bears and wolves,
along with other wildlife. There are also adventure holidays for for
those seeking a different holiday.
Top of Page
