Events aim to increase public interest in bats and encourage conservation of their habitats

Events are taking place to celebrate some of Beer’s most important residents - greater horseshoe bats.

About a third of the UK population of the endangered species is thought to be surviving in Devon.

A month-long Bat Festival – the only one of its kind in the UK - is under way in Devon, aimed at increasing public interest in bats.

It includes a bat detecting evening at Pecorama on Friday (today), a ‘bat trail’ walk in Branscombe on Wednesday, September 26, and a Clinton Devon Estates farm walk including an underground cave tour at Beer Quarry Caves on Thursday, September 27.

The events are part the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, a five-year partnership funded by a £785,500 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, led by the Devon Wildlife Trust.

The project aims to reverse the species’ decline by working with landowners, farmers and communities across Devon, to protect the bats’ habitats.