Lesser short-tailed bat
There are three subspecies of the lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata):
- northern short-tailed bat, which is nationally endangered
- central short-tailed bat, which is range restricted
- southern short-tailed bat.
The Tararua Ranges population of the southern short-tailed bat is nationally critical and its southern populations are nationally endangered.
The bats live in the indigenous forests where they roost in hollow trees. They forage for extended periods on the forest floor, using their folded wings as 'front limbs'. Their diet consists of insects, fruit, nectar, and pollen, and they are an important pollinator of the plant dactylanthus.
Pressures include introduced predators such as rats, stoats, and cats as well as browsers and wasps. Some of their habitat is threatened by selective logging of large trees, which results in a loss of roost sites.
The management of the bats is guided by a recovery plan that includes protecting their roost sites from destruction or disturbance, introducing predator control programmes at important sites and monitoring key populations. Attempts are being made to establish 'insurance populations' of short-tailed bats in predator-free environments in case they do not survive in their present habitats. Captive husbandry and breeding have also been used.
Current situation
The lesser short-tailed bat currently occupies less than 5 per cent of the range it was estimated to have before human settlement. Its current distribution is about 75 per cent of its range in the 1970s.
Change in distribution of the lesser short-tailed bat
Data source: Department of Conservation.
The map above shows the distribution of the lesser short-tailed bat in New Zealand, including its estimated pre-human, 1970s and current (2007) distributions. It shows that its range has contracted and it now occupies about 5 per cent of its original range.
The northern lesser short-tailed bat is found at two sites in Northland and one on Little Barrier Island. The central lesser short-tailed bat is found in Northland, the central North Island and Taranaki. The southern lesser short-tailed bat is found in the Tararua Ranges, on Codfish Island, in northwest Nelson and in Fiordland.
This information has come from the latest national state of the environment report Environment New Zealand 2007.
Move to the next species, the kiwi.
Last updated: December 2007
