Are Wind Turbines a Danger to Bats?

As many as 80,000 bats per year are meeting an untimely demise due to wind farms, researchers have found. The results came out in a survey by the University of Exeter of 46 wind farms, 29 of which had undergone ecological impact assessments that had predicted the creatures would be unaffected. It is believed that bats turn off their sonar (which helps them to detect approaching objects) when they are up high, because they don’t expect anything to be blocking their path. Dr Fiona Matthews of Exeter University said operators should be encouraged to turn off the turbines during peak bat migration and breeding seasons.