9 A vesper forest bat at suppressed
Identification history
| Vespadelus regulus | 13 Jan 2024 | Caroline.Hennessy | ||
| Vespadelus sp. (genus) | 13 Jan 2024 | Caroline.Hennessy | ||
| Unidentified | 13 Jan 2024 | LisaH |
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User's notes
I'm hoping this is an ethical sighting. We've found microbats inside the house in the past (and have posted on CNM). However, today I saw what I initially thought was a frog in an inside bucket. I was concerned to see it was a bat, which I thought was deceased, but discovered it was lethargic. I wondered if it was dehydrated and took it outside (at the same time thinking I'd have to contact WIRES). I placed some water under it, and it slowly began moving, stretched its wings, and took off just a couple of minutes after being released from the bucket. (I kept my distance, using the zoom function in the camera). I am totally in love!
6 comments
DonFletcher
wrote:
14 Jan 2024
I agree, nothing in this account remotely approaches unethical behaviour. Unless you are a researcher (in which case the requirement referred to as 'animal ethics' is actually something mandated by law and becomes a complex issue involving the opinion of a committee whose composition is also legally specified, and a code of practice about a centimetre thick) there is no socially accepted ethical requirement other than to try to behave well. Certainly you are not ethically required to contact WIRES or an equivalent group unless you think you had better do so to take advantage of their expertise. In this case that was far from being the case. Aside from the ethics, you would also be aware of the law requiring you to have a licence from NPWS if you take native animals from the wild, or keep them for more than a short time needed to administer immediate care, or kill them.
LisaH
wrote:
14 Jan 2024
Thank you, this was really helpful and put my concerns in perspective. I've been wondering about the ethics of wildlife photography (beyond birds, now that I've discovered the fascinating and broad expanse of our insect world), and have found some helpful articles online. There is a small section in 'About NatureMapr' regarding safeguarding sensitive species. I'm wondering if it's worth expanding and highlighting a piece on ethical treatment/photographs of all our wildlife?
DonFletcher
wrote:
14 Jan 2024
Thanks Lisa. I will leave that to others to decide if we need it and to do it if they think we do.
LisaH
wrote:
14 Jan 2024
Thank you again, Don. I think I've conflated two issues - ethical treatment of animals per se; and ethical treatment of animals in the quest for 'the' photo.
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 13 Jan 2024 01:09 PM Recorded on
- LisaH Recorded by
-
Collections
Photographic Competition - best vertebrate animal image Featured sightings
Additional information
- Alive / healthy Animal health
Species information
- Vespadelus sp. (genus) Scientific name
- A vesper forest bat Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1088.2m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
