Protecting bat roosts is a foundational welfare intervention that supports the welfare of millions of bats whose survival depends on safe roosting sites.
Bat roost protection is a welfare intervention that operates at the most fundamental level — protecting the safe spaces bats need to raise young and survive winter. A maternity roost disturbed during pup season causes acute distress and abandonment, resulting in the death of vulnerable pups who cannot thermoregulate independently. Hibernation disturbance causes bats to rouse from torpor, burning fat reserves they cannot replace in winter and dying of starvation before spring. These welfare harms are entirely preventable through appropriate roost surveys before renovation, protection of known roost sites, and management of human access to hibernation sites. Bat welfare is supported by the same protections that conserve bat populations — welfare and conservation are perfectly aligned.