This is the largest and the rarest bat in Britain. In the past 25 years there have been few records of this species. A single male was found at Dover in February 1985, hibernating in Napoleonic fortifications under the Western Heights.
One individual has been recorded annually for some yearshibernating in Sussex, and a second greater mouse-eared bat was recorded in January 2023.. Recent updates confirm this famous male is still present, but also include occasional new detections (eDNA, acoustic) at very few sites.
