Two battles took place in the autumn of 2011 in one of the most important caves in Europe, regarding bat preservation – the Devetashka one in Northwest Bulgaria. The first battle was fictive - the shooting of the Expendables 2 action movie with Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone. The second one was hidden and  silent – the bat colonies in the cave tried to start their winter sleep. The voice of environmentalists wasn’t heard and the poll, conducted by those afterwards showed a 2/3 decrease in the number of bats on the same period in 2010. The good news is that today the population has restored its number.

Mr. Boyan Petrov from the Center for Survey and Protection of Bats with the National Museum of Natural History recalls on that period of blast and thunder.

“We discovered then the lack of some 20,000 bats that had obviously gone to another cave, which is unfortunately extremely difficult for access, so we couldn’t find out the exact number of the refugees. However, it is a fact at the moment that the bats have returned to the Devetashka cave, where they traditionally spend the winter. We hope that this restoration of their population is a stable one. When we entered the cave after the shooting had ended, we found some 100 corpses. I guess the other bodies had been quickly wiped out by the team of the movie.”

There is also some other good news today, regarding the Devetashka cave, which has been a natural phenomenon since 1996. The latest regulation of the environmental ministry on the protection of the spot was issued in the beginning of 2013. Bulgaria is actually an important place for bat preservation, since more than 30 out of the 35 European species live here. The lack of precision in the previous regulation had provided an opportunity for the Regional Inspectorate on Environment and Waters in the town of Pleven to circumvent the law and to allow the shooting of an action movie in the kingdom of bats. According to Boyan Petrov the new regulation protects much better the unique natural wealth of the cave – the bats, the rare microorganisms, as well as the birds nesting there.

“However, this is simply the initial step,” he pointed out. “A plan is to be adopted for the cave’s management that is to precise all actions allowed and banned.” Environmentalists find it important the tourist paths in the cave to be marked and regulated, as some great interest is shown towards them."

The Devetashka cave, situated about 20 km away from the town of Lovech is one of the biggest and most beautiful in Bulgaria. It is 2.5 km long and has a height of over 60 m. The enormous entrance and the first hall of 2,400 m2, where 7 openings bring light, are particularly impressive. The cave has two derivations – a river goes along the first one and the second is dry and warm. One of the halls is called the Altar and some precious marks from the Neolithic era have been discovered there. Traces of life have been found in the bright part of the cave from 7 other consecutive eras, up to the Medieval Ages.

Here is the environmental point of view on the tourist access’ restriction to the Devetashka cave.

“They will be able to see some 90 percent of the bright part of the cave, which is really astonishing with its size and beauty. However, visitors shouldn’t be allowed to enter the dark parts, where the kingdom of bats is situated. Some 30,000 of those spend the winter there right now. A simple flashlight can wake them up and it is not fair pure curiosity to cause that. When you wake 10,000 bats several times over the winter and they start to move, they will be so exhausted that they won’t make it till the spring. Tourists can’t be allowed to move upside down the entire cave – they step on the flora, on the stones, where rare microorganisms live… Over 1,000 people per day are expected to visit the cave through the weekends in the future and all the facilities will be built to ease their access – a parking spot, restrooms etc.”

The scientists hope that the Lovech Municipality will develop quickly the management plan and the cave will be protected for real and not only on paper.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev