Onderzoekers die kleine zoogdieren inventariseerden in het grensoverschrijdende landschap KempenBroek vingen een levende zwarte waterspitsmuis en vonden bewijs van gewone bosspitsmuizen die niet eerder op lokale verspreidingskaarten waren vastgesteld, meldde Nature Today. The discoveries emerged from a weekend mammal inventory conducted from October 2 to October 4, 2026, using more than two hundred life traps and dozens of cameras.
Trapping a Rare Black Water Shrew in KempenBroek
Volunteers deployed 220 Longworth life traps, twelve wildlife cameras, and specialized small-mammal camera traps known as Struikrovers across the marshland. Marco Snijder of the Mammal Society said researchers placed the traps several days in advance, baiting them with apples, carrots, oats, wheat, and live mealworms to acclimate the animals. Workers set the traps on the evening of October 3 and maintained frequent check intervals to minimize animal stress. Alongside common bank voles and wood mice, the survey yielded a live water shrew. While the species normally features a silvery-gray to stark white belly, this particular specimen displayed complete melanism with an entirely black coat.
Filling Gaps on Regional Distribution Maps
Annemarie van Diepenbeek, an expert on animal tracks, noted that previous environmental DNA analysis of local water samples indicated high concentrations of water shrew genetic material. The weekend fieldwork also confirmed the presence of the common shrew, which had not been previously documented on the KempenBroek distribution map. Additional captures included a pygmy shrew and several common forest shrews. “You discover not only which animals are there, but you can also literally color in white spots on the map,” van Diepenbeek said.
Tracking Bats and Exotic Wallabies with Cameras
Bat specialists deployed mist nets across forest paths, drainage ditches, and ecotones to monitor flying mammals. During an evening excursion captured on thermal imaging by Peter Twisk, a beaver swam through a fen while daubenton’s bats hunted insects overhead, illustrating the ecological activity of the restored marshland. Bat researchers measured and weighed the animals and checked the amount of dental plaque on their small teeth. Uit deze gegevens valt veel af te leiden over dieet, gezondheid en leefomgeving
, vertelt vleermuisexpert Laura Kijm. Meanwhile, wildlife cameras captured wild boars, red deer, roe deer, beech martens, weasels, and a wallaby.
ARK Rewilding Nederland organized the mammal inventory weekend in collaboration with the Fieldwork Group of Mammal Protection Netherlands, drawing researchers and volunteers from organizations including Limburgs Landschap vzw and Natuurpunt.
