The bats, which belong to the nyctalus azoreum and the pipistrellus species, are only naturally found on the verdant Azores and are among the world's most endangered animals, according to researchers from Portugal's Nature Conservation Institute which carried out a study of the bats for the regional government.

The study, which also involved researchers from the University of Lisbon and the environment department of the Azores, blamed the widespread use pesticides and the introduction of new predators on the archipelago for the bats' declining numbers.

The researchers found nyctalus azoreum bats on all of the Azores' nine islands, but said they were especially numerous on the island of Sao Miguel.

Pipistrellus bats meanwhile were only found on the the islands of Santa Maria, Flores and Corvo, which are located on the eastern and western fringes of the archipelago.

The Azores are lush, green islands located some 1,500 kilometresmiles) off the coast of Portugal which are volcanic in origin with mild temperatures year round.

Like other isolated islands, the Azores have functioned as a natural evolutionary laboratory as most of the native plant species found on the island are related to, though divergent from, the flora found in Europe.

SPACE.WIRE