BCA Conservation and Access - Bats and Coronavirus

The IUCN Bat Specialist group has produced some guidance for cavers, bat handlers, and underground workers on contact with bats during the pandemic. This is a living document so will be updated regularly.

We should note here - this guidance is to protect bats from cavers who might be infected - not the other way around! Another caveat is that the guidance has been designed from an international standpoint - some specific details might not apply to British cavers, but the essential message is common sense: leave bats alone, and don't go caving if you have tested positive for Covid-19.

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The full publication and detailed guidance are here, including other reports:
https://www.iucnbsg.org/bsg-publications.html

Will Burn
BCA Conservation and Access Officer
conservation@british-caving.org.uk
 

Stuart France

Active member
There are many type of Coronavirus in the world including the monkey-specific one which is exploited by the AZ vaccine.

Can anyone point me to any evidence (e.g. PCR test on an observed dead or sick wild bat for example) that bats anywhere in the world are infected with or can be infected with (e.g. lab animal experiment) the same Coronavirus strain which is affecting humans?

While on the subject of jumping species, what is being done to stop potential covid19 transmission to the family pet and farm animals?
 

Speleofish

Active member
I can't find any papers that have conclusively identified SARS-Cov-2 in either bats or pangolins, just lots of 'similar' coronaviruses.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
A couple of years ago we installed a bat-friendly lid on our shaft, and last September I saw our first bat in there - they'd never been able to get in before as we unblocked it, so we've created a new habitat for them. But if that now means avoiding the site until the Covid pandemic is completely 'over' (as in, never), then they're gonna have to find somewhere else to live, or put up with us digging around them. I'm not going to kiss or hug them, they didn't haul 100 tons of rubble up over four years, and there's plenty of other suitable venues nearby.

If someone had tested positive for Covid would they really be planning a caving trip as their next activity? I would have thought writing a will would be a more appropriate use of their time.
 
Remember folks, this advice isn't materially different from the advice published by the BCA and the Bat Trust half a decade ago (actually the advice here is simpler and less restrictive if anything). There will be parts of it that do not apply to the UK as well.

Obviously, science is always debatable, but the literature linked in their report does note the susceptibility of bats to intranasal incubation by SARS-Cov-2, which is pretty much the best evidence you are going to get without rounding up covid patients and making them sneeze on animals (not something I'd ever want to approach an ethics committee about). I'd suggest if you want to get in-depth into this that the thread is split!

Phil - I'm not a bat ecologist and I can't speak for them but I'd suggest if your dig isn't already bothering bats then it won't do if you continue - just try to avoid sneezing on or eating them I suppose.

Cheers
Will
 
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