Bat Conservation, Citizen Science and Heritage Tourism: An Intersection at Joker’s Tunnel, Western Australia

Abandoned mine tunnels can provide critical roosting habitat for cave-dwelling bats. Joker’s Tunnel, a 19th-century gold-mining adit and tourist attraction in Western Australia’s Midwest, is publicly accessible and receives visitation, including for its roosting bat populations. We conducted harp-trapping, acoustic monitoring, and roost emergence surveys between 31 October and 5 November 2025 to determine species use, confirm maternity roosting, and assess the site’s suitability for citizen science. Two species were confirmed using the tunnel as a maternity roost: Finlayson’s cave bat ( Vespadelus finlaysoni ) and Hill’s sheathtail bat ( Taphozous hilli ), the latter recorded outside its previously known distribution. Additional species were detected in surrounding foraging areas and at the Yalgoo town dam. Roost emergence observations demonstrated that citizen scientists could successfully collect useful data on emergence timing and occupancy by multiple species. As an openly accessible site, Joker’s Tunnel illustrates both the potential for disturbance to a sensitive roost and the importance of carefully managing visitor access, as normally, roost locations are kept confidential to minimise these impacts. At the same time, the site presents an opportunity to integrate bat conservation with heritage tourism and community-based monitoring, providing a model for accessible, low-impact citizen science initiatives.