Rare ‘big-eared bat’ discovered on Mount Bukhan

Rare ‘big-eared bat’ discovered on Mount Bukhan. November. 17, 2016 07:19. by Hyun-Seok Lim lhs@donga.com. The big-eared bat, which is a rare species worldwide, has been discovered on Mount Bukhan in Seoul. It is the first time that a big-eared bat has been spotted at a national park in Korea.

The Korea National Park Service said on Wednesday that a big-eared bat, which is registered as species on which data is rare on the Red List published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, had been discovered on Mount Bukhan National Park. A habitat for the big-eared bat was first identified in 1928, before it was discovered against in Shihwa-ho Lake in 2008. Habitats for the bat were also discovered on Geoje Island and Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province in 2013. Since the bat has rarely been spotted in Korea, it has not even been enlisted as an endangered species in the country.

The big-eared bat is a large-sized bat among bat species found in Korea. It is known to find its habitat mostly in cliffs or rocky crevices. Since it flies high in the sky at high speeds, it is particularly difficult to identify. Also little is known about its total population and ecological behaviors in Korea. The Japanese environment department is protecting the big-eared bat as an endangered species.

There are 23 species of bats that have habitat in Korea, including the big-eared bat. National parks are found to be home to 19 species including the big-eared bat that has been discovered this time. As a habitat of the big-eared bat on Mount Bukhan National Park has been identified for the first time, two species, including the previously identified home bat, are found to have their habitat in the park.

According to the Korea National Park Service, a member of the "climate change civilian monitoring group" had discovered the big-eared bat. The group is an organization that has taken photos of plants, animals and mushrooms that they have discovered while hiking national parks, and posted them on SNS pages since last year. A member discovered the bat that was seen climbing up its habitat on a cliff on October 30, and took its photos to inform its existence, before the Korea National Park Service analyzed them to confirm‎ a habitat of the bat.