Highway should not harm bats

Transport officials are striving to make sure native bats are not harmed when the Manawatu¯ Gorge replacement highway is built.

They don’t know if pekapeka, or native bats, are actually in the path of the planned highway, which will link Manawatu¯ with Hawke’s Bay and northern Wairarapa. But they’re taking no chances.

New Zealand Transport Agency project manager Lonnie Dalzell said multiple investigations were ongoing into the area’s ecology.

One requirement for resource consent was finding out what flora and fauna were in or near to the new road.

A survey of the area found it was likely pekapeka were possibly nearby, he said.

The agency did acoustic monitoring in November, and did not find any evidence of bats, but more would be done in March to make sure, he said.

‘‘It’s more for reassurance that they are not there.’’

Those months were chosen because they lined up when bats were breeding, or leaving home for the first time.

There was also the possibility of birds or lizards in the area, Dalzell said.

State Highway 3 through the gorge was closed in April 2017 because of slips and the route was later abandoned when the hillside was deemed unstable. Transport officials have since been planning a new route over the Ruahine Range.

One possibility was relocating any lizards in the path of the road to the Manawatu¯ Gorge Scenic Reserve, Dalzell said.

‘‘We’re trying to ensure that what we do is ecologically friendly.’’

Waterways were also monitored. being