France: 1.2 to 3.3 million bats destroyed by wind turbines

The figure is scary: The approximately 6,000 wind turbines are operating in France today may have caused the death of 1.6 million bats over the period 2002-15, according to the Environment Agency and the control of energy (Ademe).

Researchers have established a conservative range between 12,000 and 3.3 million animals. The level of mortality of this declining species is now being recognized. The Chiroptera family of bats, which hunt at dusk and at night, are not blind. So why are they not seeing the turbines?

Some blame the the signal lights placed on wind turbines designed to warn aircraft of the their presence. The lights attract insects and therefore pipistrelles and other common bats, are swept by the blades. But it appears, in fact that it is especially the strong variation of pressure caused by the passage of the blades in front of the tower of the wind turbine which creates a "barotraumatism". "The fragile capillaries of their lungs burst during this brutal depression," says the Bird Protection League. The sonar of the bat works by echolocation and detects the obstacles, but it remains blind to the pressure change."

Translation from French to English assisted using Google Translate