The animal was found injured near to the city's main train station in August.

It was taken to the emergency care centre for bats, as the Department of Construction and Transport (BVD) announced on Wednesday. The centre identified the species, nursed it back to health and later released it near where it had been found.

The example clearly shows how important it is to report finds, wrote the BVD. A month earlier, the authorities in the neighbouring canton of Basel-Country had already identified an alpine bat for the first time.

According to the communiqué, the discovery of the presence of the alpine bat is very pleasing for the region, as many bats in Switzerland are under severe pressure. Many of the 30 species are endangered or have not been recorded in the canton of Basel-City since the turn of the millennium.

Bats in urban areas are suffering from the loss of suitable roosts and light pollution. The nocturnal hunters are also dependent on dark habitats in the city.

Dark corridors such as tree-lined avenues with dense treetops or unlit rows of houses help the animals to fly from their daytime roosts to their hunting grounds, according to the report.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga