Ultrasonic recorders help researchers detect bats remotely.

On their first night in Rwanda, the Bat Conservation International field research team got lucky in an unexpected way. They had set up nets in Nyungwe National Park, one of the oldest rainforests on the African continent, to try to catch the critically endangered Hill’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli), which has not been seen since 1981. But instead of catching that rare bat, they caught another—the Damara woolly bat (Kerivoula argentata)—which had never been caught in Rwanda before.

They were able to record the newly confirmed bat’s echolocation call, which means they can now detect it by sound without needing to catch it again. They used an ultrasonic recorder from Wildlife Acoustics, a Massachusetts-based company specializing in bat and bird acoustic equipment, to record the call. Read more at Bats magazine.