Bats are crucial ecosystem service providers facing multiple welfare threats. Understanding their needs guides both conservation and welfare-conscious interactions.
Bat welfare is largely invisible despite their ecological importance and widespread suffering from multiple human-caused threats. White-nose syndrome has caused population collapses of over 90% in affected North American species — representing millions of individuals dying from a disease introduced by human cave exploration. Wind turbine mortality causes both direct impact deaths and barotrauma from pressure changes. Pesticide bioaccumulation is chronic and poorly quantified. Individual bat welfare in human settings includes unnecessary disturbance of roosts (illegal for most species in the US and EU) and persecution based on irrational fears. Supporting bat conservation through roost protection, insect habitat restoration, and wind turbine curtailment during high-mortality periods addresses both conservation and welfare dimensions.