Batgirl fights to save endangered species in central Victoria

WHEN Emmi van Harten’s daughter Riva was given a bat cape, little did she know the pair would soon become modern day superheroes, fighting to save an endangered species.

Emmi Van Harten and her southern bent-wing bat. Picture: Tony Gough

WHEN Emmi van Harten’s daughter Riva was given a bat cape for her third birthday, little did she know the pair would soon become modern day superheroes, fighting to save an endangered species.

Ms van Harten’s upbringing on a bush block in Bendigo helped her develop a love of nature and animals. When an Australian microbat expert visited a local landcare group early last year and explained the dire situation of the “critically endangered” southern bent-wing bat, Ms van Harten felt compelled to hitch up her sleeves and do her bit to help.

There are now fewer than 50,000 of these bats in the wild, a dramatic drop from about 200,000 in the 1960s.

“I developed a strong sense of place in the bush,” Ms van Harten said.

“(Expert Dr Lindy Lumsden) set some harp traps to catch some bats (and the) next morning we went to have a look.

“My daughter came with me. She was wearing her bat cape. She was very excited ... they’re so tiny, so fragile.”

Ms van Harten has already broken new ground, experimenting with microchip technology — usually used to register cats and dogs — and large-scale radio wave antennas to detect the bats’ movements.

It’s the first time this technology has been used for bat research in Australia.