---
title: "HNEE Eberswalde intensive bat monitoring Building 5 loft, City Campus; post-mortems to identify causes and reduce mortality"
sdDatePublished: "2026-08-13T10:06:00Z"
source: "https://www.hnee.de/en/news/2026/intensives-fledermausmonitoring"
topics:
  - name: "nature"
    identifier: "medtop:20000441"
  - name: "scientific research"
    identifier: "medtop:20000735"
  - name: "scientific innovation"
    identifier: "medtop:20000736"
  - name: "health"
    identifier: "medtop:07000000"
  - name: "animal disease"
    identifier: "medtop:20000494"
locations:
  - "Eberswalde"
---


HNEE Eberswalde intensive bat monitoring Building 5 loft, City Campus; post-mortems to identify causes and reduce mortality

HNE Eberswalde: Intensives Fledermausmonitoring

Dozent für Wildbiologie und Wildtiermanagement

Intensive bat monitoring on the City Campus

The attic of Building 5 at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development is home to a long-established bat roost. After students conducting project work discovered that a strikingly large number of bats were dying there, particularly during the winter months, the HNEE set up an intensive monitoring programme. Wireless wildlife cameras are intended to help detect deaths as early as possible and to investigate the causes scientifically.

The loft of Building 5 on the City Campus of the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) is used as a roost by various species of bat. It is particularly important as a winter roost, although bats also spend time there at times during the summer. Among the species regularly recorded is the pipistrelle bat ( Pipistrellus pygmaeus ).

The current monitoring programme was initiated as part of student project work. Four female students from the Master's study programme in Sustainable Regional Development (NaRegio), who had chosen the nature conservation specialisation, studied the roost from September 2025 to February 2026. In the course of their work, they discovered that a strikingly large number of bats had died in the loft last winter. The exact cause of death is not yet known.

The project arose on the students’ initiative as part of the ‘Project Work and Holistic Process Design’ module in their third semester. It built on an earlier student study from the winter semester of 2022

23. At that time, a group of six students from the Landscape Management and Nature Conservation degree programme had recommended initial structural measures, some of which were subsequently implemented. The current project aimed to evaluate these measures, identify possible causes of the deaths and formulate further courses of action.

In order to jointly assess the situation on site and agree on the next steps, a site inspection of the loft took place a few weeks ago. Those taking part included HNEE Chancellor Markus Koenecke, student C. Keller, the supervisor of the project work Dr Jens Möller, the Eberswalde bat expert and HNEE alumnus Hinrich Matthes, Uwe Körner from the HNEE woodworking workshop, Mike Schwarz from the HNEE’s Facilities, Grounds and Environmental Management department, Jens Teubner, Head of the Zippelsförde Nature Conservation Station, a representative of the local nature conservation authority, and wildlife expert Dr Frank-Uwe Michler.

Together, they inspected the roost and agreed on the next steps. Possible structural alterations to the loft were also taken into consideration. However, before any concrete measures are implemented, it must first be established what is causing the animals’ deaths.

To this end, recently deceased bats must be discovered as quickly as possible, recovered in accordance with best practice, and sent for a post-mortem examination. Only sufficiently fresh carcasses allow for meaningful investigations into diseases, poisoning or other organic changes.

“Before we can take effective protective measures, we need to understand as precisely as possible why the animals are dying. The post-mortem examination of recently deceased bats is therefore a crucial step. Only on this basis can we develop a scientifically sound management plan for the roost,” explains Dr Frank-Uwe Michler.

Immediately following the site inspection, camera trap monitoring was set up in the loft. Four wireless wildlife cameras are currently monitoring selected areas of the roost. They transmit new images in real time. This allows changes and possible deaths to be detected at an early stage. At the same time, the images provide information on when and in which areas of the loft the bats are present.

During the first three weeks of monitoring, bats were regularly detected in the loft. Fortunately, no deaths have been recorded during the summer observation period to date. The cameras are checked regularly and repositioned as necessary to ensure that as many relevant areas of the roost as possible are covered. During a recent inspection, C. Keller and Dr Frank-Uwe Michler analysed the footage recorded so far and adjusted the position of individual cameras.

“The wireless cameras allow us to observe what is happening in the loft without unnecessarily disturbing the animals through frequent visits. At the same time, we gain a very direct insight into how the roost is being used,” explains C. Keller.

The monitoring is expected to be particularly important during the coming autumn and winter months. Should any more bats die, the animals can be recovered promptly and sent for examination. The results will then be incorporated into a management plan for the roost. The aim is to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, the possible causes of the increased number of dead bats and to preserve the roost in the long term.

The project combines student engagement, scientific research and practical bat conservation. At the same time, it brings together different departments of the university as well as experts and organisations from the region. It demonstrates how insights gained from teaching can be directly translated into concrete measures to protect wildlife on campus.

Background to the student project

The project work, which ran from September 2025 to February 2026, was supervised academically by Dr Jens Möller and supported by Hinrich Matthes as a practical partner. Matthes himself studied Landscape Management and Nature Conservation at HNEE and now works as a consultant specialising in bat populations. He supported both the current and the previous student project.

The students also worked closely with the HNEE’s Facilities, Grounds and Environmental Management department, in particular with Mr Gottschalk and Ms Falkenthal. They also received technical support from HNEE alumnus and Eberswalde-based consultant Anton Pigge, who provided various pieces of equipment. NABU Barnim supported the research by lending wildlife cameras.

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