Photo credit: Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council
Photo credit: Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council

Pekapeka in Tāmaki Makaurau

Learn how you can help protect the pekapeka (long-tailed bat) and improve their habitats.

Photo credit: Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council


Our bats live and breed in Tāmaki Makaurau

The pekapeka or long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) is a threatened species native to New Zealand. These bats live right here in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Normally, long-tailed bats have a large travel area, or home range, of about 100 square kilometers. But in Auckland, where their natural habitat is broken up by urban areas, these bats have adapted to live in much smaller pockets of green space. They travel across Auckland, using streams and rivers as feeding superhighways

Where you might spot them:

  • in rural districts with small areas of bush like Franklin
  • flying across open farmland
  • hunting near forest edges and wetlands
  • living in the edges between urban and rural areas close to the city, like the Waitākere Ranges. 

Bats live in trees

Long-tailed bats live together in groups of around 10 to 50. They use roosts as essential resting spots where they rest, sleep, and digest their food. A roost is a shelter found inside old, large hollow trees - and sometimes caves. 

During the breeding season (October to March), female bats roost separately. Males roost alone or in small groups during this time. The females form 'maternity’ roosts of between 10 and 40 females. They do this to:

  • raise pups all together and keep the young warm
  • reduce competition for resources while the females are pregnant and lactating protect themselves from predators.


Why we should protect pekapeka 

Long-tailed bats or pekapeka are important to our ecosystem. 

A single bat can eat hundreds of insects in one night.

This helps to:

  • control pest insect numbers
  • reduce disease-carrying insect populations
  • maintain ecological balance. 

Auckland's pekapeka have a nationally critical and regionally critical conservation status. This is our highest conservation threat level meaning they are at the greatest risk of extinction. Their populations are declining because of:

  • predators like feral cats, stoats, possums and rats
  • people removing trees where bats live and breed
  • other emerging threats, such as changes to our climate. 

In protected forests where predator animals are controlled, bat populations can grow by up to 10 percent each year. In unprotected areas, populations decline. 

To learn more facts about pekapeka, visit this Department of Conservation web-page.

How you can help our long-tailed bats 

You can help protect pekapeka and improve their numbers. 
If you are part of an iwi or community-led group conservation initiative, contact us.

Control predators 

  • Learn to control pest animals around your home with our Guide to controlling pest animals. 

  • Find and support local predator control projects led by community conservation groups in our Auckland Conservation Directory. 

Protect bat habitats 

  • Protect mature native and certain exotic trees, especially ones that have cavities or loose bark. 

  • Check with a certified consultant ecologist before pruning or cutting down large trees, especially near forest edges and waterways. Search on the internet for ecologists near you.

  • Plant suitable large-growing native trees for future bat populations.

  • Improve the areas where bats feed by increasing planting near rivers and streams.

  • Protect native forest habitats – for example by fencing them, controlling pest animals or removing pest plants. 

  • Avoid unnecessary night lighting, especially near forest edges. Bats avoid bright lights. 

Monitor bats in your area 

  • Email tiaki@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to report bat sightings. This helps us to build our knowledge about bats and their habitats. 
    You can use a device called a bat detector to help you find bats. You can:

  • borrow a local conservation group's bat detector

  • contact us for advice if you are thinking about buying a bat detector. 

Learn more about how you can Become a bat spotter [PDF 872KB]. 

 

Resources

General resources

 

Student resources 

Acknowledgements: a special thank you to Natasha Bansal at EcoQuest Centre for Indigeneity, Ecology, and Creativity and Ben Paris 'Bat Man' – Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council for the support in creating this page.

 

Close up of a tiny pekepeka being gently held by trained bat handlers.
Long-tailed bat being held by a certified bat handler, in the Franklin district at night.
Photo credit: Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council
Close up of a pekepeka long-tailed bat being gently held by trained bat handlers.
Long-tailed bat being held by a certified bat handler, in the Franklin district at night.
Photo credit: Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council