“The centre receives up to 3,000 bats each year”

Vet Anastasiia Dmytrivna Domanska rehabilitates bats in the Ukranian city of Kharkiv

On top of her day job as a vet in Kharkiv, Anastasiia Dmytrivna Domanska gives up her evenings volunteering for the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center (UBRC), treating sick and traumatised bats.

What does your volunteering involve? The bats that people bring into the rehabilitation centre are often suffering from infections, malnutirition and parasites. I examine them and treat them, offering life-long rehabilitation when necessary. My work includes treating everything, from bats giving birth to tooth decay!

UBRC receives up to 3,000 bats each year from all over the country. If they arrive during the winter (when bats are hibernating), we cannot release them back into the wild, so we need to feed those weak and sick individuals. Sometimes we have up to 300 bats to feed each day!

Why do the bats need help?

All the 13 bat species I work with are listed in the Ukranian Red Book and they are also often the victims of human cruelty, due to fear and superstition. These creatures are unique and beautiful; I cannot allow them

Anastasiia has volunteered at the centre since 2017 to suffer pain and I don’t want them to disappear from the face of the earth.

Can you tell us what a typical day looks like for you?

I work 9am to 9pm, four days a week in my veterinary clinic, so all my voluntary bat rehabilitation work takes place after that, in the evening. Luckily these hours suit their nocturnal habits! The bats that need everyday treatment live in my home and for about two months in winter, I only get three to four hours sleep a day.

What does the future hold?

At the moment, I am working on an article about bat cancer, and I would also like to develop the possibilities of surgery on bat wings and study the peculiarities of digestion among different species of bat in captivity.

Best part of the job?

Every time a bat that has come in half dead takes off into the wild. Over five years, we’ve treated 300 animals, two-thirds of which wouldn’t have survived without medical care. I consider that a good result.

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