Wildlife cameras for Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse

Since 2017, The Habitat Foundation supports the research of Nedko Nedyalkov on Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse. It is one of the five dormice that live in Europe but it is very rare. It only occurs in the most southeastern part of Europe, where Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey meet. Currently, only one population is known in Bulgaria. Remains of this dormouse are found in owl pellets from other regions but live animals haven’t been seen there yet.

The ecological consultancy Viridis donated two wildlife cameras to Nedko’s research on the mouse-tailed dormouse in Bulgaria. The camera’s will help to learn more about the habitat use of the dormouse. More knowledge about the habitat requirements of the mouse-tailed dormouse might help to locate new populations.

Mist nets for Bulgarian bat researchers

There is a group of very motivated bat researchers in Bulgaria. They travel the country to find roosts and count the number of bats in caves. This is already done for several decades. Bulgaria is very rich in bat species. More than 30 species occur here. Many are widespread but some are very rare, like Mehely’s horseshoe bat and the Long-fingered bat, both are in IUCN’s Red list in the category ‘Vulnerable’.

To learn more about the distribution of the bats in Bulgaria and their habitat use, the bat researchers catch them with mist nets; the same that are used for research on birds. Mist nets are very expensive, and easily break. The Field Study Group of the Dutch Mammal Society and The Habitat Foundation donated six mist nest to the Bulgarian bat researchers.

Your gifts are highly appreciated

Eastern Europe is very rich in animal and plant species, some of which occur only there. The richness is partly due to the landscape which is very diverse. In many Eastern European countries, the land is not use as intensively as in Western Europe, resulting in a mosaic of habitats in a small area. However, this will change. Preserving the biodiversity in Eastern Europe is possible when we know what the species’ requirements are. Therefore, it is important to support the nature researchers and conservationists in Eastern Europe as much as possible. In kind donations like the ones mentioned above is one way to support these people. If you have equipment that you don’t use anymore but that still works properly, mail us (info@thehabitatfoundation.org), and we will make sure it finds a new owner in Eastern Europe. He/she will be very grateful for your donation.

See also:

• Support nature with a gift in kind
• Equipment for mammal research and conservation in Eastern Europe
• Telescope for Wildlife Montenegro
• Field equipment for researchers in Montenegro
• Field equipment for Ukrainian mammalogists
• Field equipment for researchers in North Macedonia
• Field equipment for researchers in Bosnia-Herzegovina