Bats found in Iceland

Three bats were found in the North Iceland town of Siglufjörður last week – the animals were stowaways on a Danish ship arriving from Belgium.

Bats are not native to Iceland but make occasional visits, carried either by jet streams or ships. The tiny specimens had hidden in the cargo hold of the ship, which arrived in Siglufjörður on Thursday afternoon.

The bats were discovered as the ship was being unloaded. Workers managed to capture two of them (pictured below), but the third managed to fly off and escape.

The two captured bats were taken in by parish priest and amateur natural scientist, Rev. Sigurður Ægisson. They were then sent to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History and subsequently sedated for their journey out of Iceland.

Bats are not native to Iceland. Photo: Sigurður Ægisson