Monitoring Flight Recovery in Rehabilitating European Insectivorous Bats (Hypsugo savii and Pipistrellus kuhlii): A Case Study at Monte Adone Wildlife Rescue Center

The main goal of this thesis is to develop an effective set of evaluation criteria to monitor and assess the recovery of flight functions of bats during the rehabilitative period in a wildlife rescue center. This study aims to support the evaluation with a semi-quantitative assessment that allows a better tracking of the progress of each individual through the use of specific tables and graphical representations of the recovery curves. To achieve this goal, this research is supported by a practical application that was conducted over a period of 30 days at the Monte Adone Wildlife Rescue Center, which, at the time of the study, was housing eight (n=8) individuals belonging to two different species of insectivorous bats: Hypsugo savii and Pipistrellus kuhlii. The evaluation was conducted using a customized scoring system tracking key parameters regarding flight initiation, flight performance and flight termination. Based on the results collected, individuals were categorized into specific macro-groups that reflected their rehabilitating trend: static profiles, unstable profiles, high-tier stable profiles and an interesting case of almost linear recovery. This high diversity provided an optimal comparative framework that demonstrated the protocol’s suitability to track distinct recovery trajectories. However, the results suggest that, while the use of recovery curves proved to be effective for objective monitoring and reducing the risk of subjectivity, flight ability remains influenced by numerous external factors. Performing evaluations over longer periods may minimize the impact of these variables and provide a more comprehensive representation of the recovery trends. ​