While many people are afraid of them, bats play an essential part in nature, for example, by consuming surprising quantities of insects each night.

Unfortunately, in the past few years, a disease –the White-Nose Syndrome in Bats- has reduced the number of bats in Québec and Eastern North America.

Within a team of specialists, the Granby Zoo is working at the recovery of bats through scientific studies, inventories, population awareness, protection of habitats, and by operating a refuge for bats in winter!

Take a closer look at all our conservation activities.

The Zoo de Granby has been an active member of the group Équipe de rétablissement des chauves-souris du Québec, since its creation in 2014. The Zoo is very active in raising awareness with the population and in schools, by carrying out inventories and by distributing artificial bat houses throughout the region.

• The care and release of 25 big brown bats in their natural habitat, concluding the second season of the winter shelter;
• Inventory carried out along the Rivière aux Brochets, in the town of Pike River;
• Installation of a heated bat houses at Ferme Héritage Miner, in Granby;
• Creation of a 50 m2 pond adapted to the needs of bats in the Boisés-Miner park, in Granby;
• Support for the group Conservation des Chauves-souris des Cantons-de-l’Est through its actions with the population;
• Surveys of landowners who have shelters for bat colonies and the members of the Association québécoise de la gestion parasitaire (AQGP; pest management professionals);
• Production of a video aimed at raising awareness and to better equip members of the AQGP;
• Creation and distribution of a landowner’s guide for citizens who have bats on their properties.

Starting in 2019, the zoo will proceed with its monitoring of the thirty artificial bat houses installed throughout the Montérégie and the Eastern Townships. Knowledge acquisition on the state of the bat population will continue in certain targeted natural habitats. The Zoo de Granby plans to also offer its expertise for the expansion of the Quebec network of winter shelters. We are also pursuing with our collaboration with the AQGP and other partners in the field of scientific research.

If you have bats on your property, you can contribute to research by registering the colony on the Neighborhood Bat Watch website. The site also contains useful information to help and learn about bats.