World's bat experts converge on Prague

Experts from around the world have swooped into Prague for the 15th International Bat Research Conference.

The weeklong gathering Aug. 23-27 is colonizing the Czech University of Life Sciences (ČZU) in Prague 6-Suchdol and involves some 500 scientists from 52 countries.

"It's the biggest gathering of bat researchers that has ever been done in the world," Radek Lučan, a scientist at Charles University's Faculty of Science and secretary to the Czech Bat Conservation Society (ČESON), told The Prague Post.

Lučan added that the spectrum of issues on the agenda made the conference an important milestone, with the latest achievements in the study of bat biology and research innovations featuring.

Prague was the birthplace of the event, having hosted the first international bat conference.

"The first conference was held in 1968, just five or six days after the invasion of the Russian Army," Lučan noted. "At that time, only a few participants came. The two organizers of the first conference are still alive, and for this anniversary we wanted to dedicate the conference to them."

Human knowledge of bats is said to have increased greatly since the first conference, with much new information gained in the past decade alone thanks to molecular biology, ultrasound analytic devices and distance-monitoring devices.

A book about bat research in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has been released to coincide with this year's event, as well as a documentary produced with the involvement of Czech Television.

The Czech Republic is known among bat scientists the world over as the country with the longest set of data on bats, going back more than 50 years.

"We have a very good tradition because of some prominent professors who started to study bats - we were among the first countries in Europe to do so," Lučan said.

Comprising more than 1,000 species - including 45 varieties in Europe - bats are the second-largest family of mammals (after rodents). Conservation is a top priority for experts both because of the animals' high vulnerability and because of what Lučan termed bats' "profound service to the ecosystem."

ČESON co-organized the conference along with Charles University's Faculty of Science and ČZU.

Lučan said the conservation society was also involved with the issue of bats causing a nuisance in public.

"With building restorations, bats are sometimes problematic for owners," the scientist said. "We try to help solve their problems on a technical and scientific basis."

Like their research specimens, the international delegations have been seeing things in the dark, with regular nocturnal trips into the city.

Lučan said participants were enjoying the sights of the capital during their stay and that the scientists, like bats, are fans of nocturnal activity.

"Every evening, they go to visit Prague's city center, and they are fascinated by Prague's architecture," he said. "I think about more than one half of participants have never been to the Czech Republic, so it is a nice experience for them."

Ahead of the event, fellow organizer Ivan Horáček urged delegates to see the top sights of the Czech Republic during their stay in what he called "a wonderful country rich in natural and cultural monuments, top-quality beer - genuine Pilsner from Plzeň, real Budweiser from Budweis - and in general, friendly to its visitors."

Bill Lehane can be reached at
blehane@praguepost.com