**5. Bat caves in Jordan**

A total of 142 caves and dwelling areas suitable for bats have been mapped (**Figure 5**). Caves are classified, as lava tunnel, pressure ridge, artificial, limestone,

**Figure 5.** *Map of Jordan showing caves and other suitable bat-dwelling areas.*

karstic, and sandstone caves. Most of the caves are located along the mountainous ridge extending from the north to the south on the western side of the country. Other sites include historical castles, mine-shafts, man-made tunnels, and rock crevices.

Based on previous studies over the past 30 years, the bat faunae for 28 caves are summarized in **Table 2**. The number of bat species per cave ranged from six to one, whereas Al Wardeh, Iraq Al Amir, Iraq Al Wahaj, and Zubiya caves harbored

#### **Figure 6.**

*Some caves in northern Jordan. (A) Arjan cave entrance. (B) Arjan cave from inside. (C) Zubiya cave entrance after development. (D) Zubiya cave from inside. (E) Iraq Al Wahaj cave entrance. (F) Iraq Al Wahaj cave from inside.*

six species. It seems that cave size is related to the number of bat species recorded; Zubiya, Al Wardeh, Dibbin Forest caves, and Iraq Al Wahaj are large caves extending over 300–500 m, while smaller caves usually are inhabited by a single bat species (**Table 2**). Other bat species such as *Barbastella leucomelas* and *Pipistrellus pipistrellus* were never observed to form colonies in caves in Jordan. The same is true for the Al Wardeh cave, which was entirely destroyed due to mining activities (**Figure 6**).

Our current projects on the bats of Jordan are to study the bat fauna associated with caves and identify threats that can affect bat populations. On the other hand, a campaign to protect bat important cave areas through legislative authorities is among high-priority issues.
