1991 - 2006. EUROBATS celebrates its 15th anniversary

1991-2006 • EUROBATS celebrates its 15 th anniversary
Observing EUROBATS from the
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Republic of Serbia —
bat study and conservation in a non-Party range state
by Branko Karapandza, Milan Paunovic, Jelena Ducic
Since modern faunistic studies began
in the middle of the 19 th century, the-
re has been awareness in Serbia
of the need to protect and conserve wild-
life. Although some attention was paid to
bats, they remained for some time in the
shadow of other, more charismatic groups.
Nevertheless, there has been a long tradi-
tion here of bat studies and efforts at bat
conservation. Thirty bat species from three
families (Rhinolophidae, Vespertilionidae
and Molossidae) have been recorded (five
more are expected to be confirmed soon),
as well as more than 30 roosting sites and
160 other ‘bat’ localities. Thus the basis for
more systematic study and conservation of
bats was established well before the EURO-
BATS Agreement.
Hence, with regard to many aspects of
bat studies and conservation, Serbia’s
accession to membership of EUROBATS
has been in preparation for quite a while,
despite the ongoing economic and political
difficulties of system transition to separate
political status for the two members of the
dual entity and although not yet a Party to
the Agreement, Serbia is making an effort
to contribute to various EUROBATS activities,
and in return EUROBATS contributes
to bat studies and conservation activities in
This article includes information about activities in the Republic
of Montenegro from 2003-2006.
Serbia . Whilst appreciating the contribution
of earlier generations of bat workers and
conservationists, as well as retaining a commitment
to international cooperation and
integration processes now going forward in
Europe, we would like to give an idea of the
background, current state and prospects of
bat studies and conservation from the perspective
of Serbia .
Historical background – 150 years of bat
studies and conservation
The founder of modern zoology (and botany)
in Serbia was Dr Josif Pancic (Savic
1977). From the middle of the 19th century,
studies for a number of mammal groups
(as well as plant groups) (Savic 1977, Miric
1979) were carried out by Pancic and his
students. They were also responsible during
the second half of the 19th century for
collecting the first sets of scientific data on
bats in Serbia . The name of Dr. Lazar Dokic
stands out especially for producing the first
overview of the mammal fauna of Serbia,
including 20 bat species (Dokic 1883).
However, bat studies were sporadic until
19 4, when Dr. Dorde Miric became a curator
of the mammal collection at the Natural
History Museum in Belgrade. He brought
with him a more intensive and systematic
method of bat research; this is reflected in
the fact that he founded bat banding, bat
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