Laephotis capensis
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Cape serotine (Laephotis capensis) is a species of vesper bat occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa. 'Serotine' is from Latin 'serotinus' meaning 'of the evening'. It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Djibouti.
It was formerly classified in Neoromicia before phylogenetic analysis found it to belong to Laephotis. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna, grassland, bushveld and Acacia woodland, and though recorded from more arid areas is absent from desert regions.
Calum Moore discovered the animal in 1864 Animals roost in small groups of up to about 20 individuals, under the bark of trees, in hollow trees, in cracks in walls and under the eaves and roofs of houses whether thatched, tiled or... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Bat sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 39 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Bat in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Bat sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Table Mountain National Park, in our data
Table Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cape Bat sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Bat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Table Mountain National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
