Wind power turbines may endanger Bluff bats

Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica). (Image: Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org, via Wikimedia Commons)

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IOL reports the department has come under fire over its plans to showcase the "green energy" turbines close to one of South Africa's largest colony - about 400 - of Egyptian slit-faced bats (Nycteris thebaica). Placing the project site at Bluff military base, close to the nocturnal insect eaters, say critics, raises fears that the bats would be decimated by the spinning blades.

For more:

• IOL: Wind power for province

• Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife: Ezemvelo website

• The Bat Interest Group of KZN: Bat Interest Group of KwaZulu-Natal website