Identificação das colônias de quirópteros em edificações no campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM): estratégia associada à educação ambiental, 2013.

Abstract

Bats are nocturnal mammals that live in caves and grottoes, being found on every continent except the poles. These animals have the ability to transmit diseases to humans. Rabies virus is the most feared one, but the feces of bats can cause the production of moulds which results in respiratory diseases such as histoplasmosis. There are colonies of bats housed on the campus of Universidade Federal de Santa Maria and the institution does not offer a strategy for the academic community to deal with the presence of those animals. Firstly, visits were made to the buildings on the campus in order to survey, as well as the application of an opinion survey among the University community. A map was drawn showing the location of buildings with colonies, followed by informative material about the ecological importance of chiropterans which was distributed especially in buildings where there are colonies. The colonies were found in 27 buildings. The buildings most affected by the presence of bats are: Hospital Universitário, buildings within Casa do Estudante complex, and buildings 17, 18, 20 e 44. According to the answers obtained in the survey, we can see that the respondents are unaware of the ecological importance of bats and do not know how to act before such animals. It is necessary to develop a strategy that will mitigate the inconvenience caused by the presence of colonies of bats on the UFSM campus. The action of Environmental Education needs to be extended throught the offer of lectures on this topic and a new distribution of printed material for an even larger awareness of the University community.