Noctalis

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Noctalis seen from Kalkberg
The entrance area

Noctalis - World of Bats is a bat center in Bad Segeberg , Schleswig-Holstein. It was opened on March 1, 2006 and is the first of its kind in Germany. The Noctalis is located in the immediate vicinity of the natural monument Kalkberghöhle in Bad Segeberg, one of the largest German hibernation areas for over 30,000 bats .

description

The nocturnal animals are brought closer to the visitor on four floors with 560 m². In order to be able to observe them well, they are kept in the dark during the day. One floor is set up as a noctarium for this purpose , in which over 100 spectacle-nose bats ( Carollia perspicillata ) live.

The noses of the glasses in the Noctarium originally come from South America and eat fruit and nectar . The animals kept here are bred from the Frankfurt Zoo and Ulm University .

Since all native species are under nature protection and may not be caught, it was decided at that time to keep tropical bats. In addition, insectivorous bats are extremely difficult to keep in captivity, as feeding them (live food) would cause great problems. Each swarm eats thousands of insects every night . In addition, tropical bat species have the advantage over native species that they do not hibernate , which makes it possible to show active animals even in winter.

On the other floors there are exhibitions and experience stations all about bats and their habitat. Here, the phenomenon of hibernation is represented as well as the habitat of caves and the summer habitats of forest , water , meadow and settlement .

On a further floor, various forms of adaptation of the bats to their living conditions are presented ( echolocation , social sounds , flying “with the hands”, etc.).

Furthermore, you can visit the Kalkberg caves, which are located right next to the Noctalis, with cave guides . The Kalkberg Caves have a total length of about 2 km, of which about 250 m are accessible to visitors. Due to their importance as a hibernation area for bats, the caves can only be visited outside of this hibernation period from April to September.

The bat center has been a partner of virologist Christian Drosten since 2007 and researches bats under the scientific direction of biologist Florian Gloza-Rausch.

financing

Noctalis is supported by Fledermaus-Zentrum GmbH , a company of the city of Bad Segeberg . The construction costs of more than 1.6 million euros come mainly from public funds. In detail:

There is also a foundation in which Heide Simonis , the humorist Günter Willumeit and ex-Winnetou actor Gojko Mitić , among others , are involved.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tim Pritlove: CRE221 bats. Retrieved on August 19, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ Florian GLOZA-RAUSCH | Bat Center, Bad Segeberg. Retrieved on August 19, 2020 (English).

Coordinates: 53 ° 56 ′ 10.34 "  N , 10 ° 18 ′ 59.71"  E