Vadym Nehoda (1979–2016), an investigator of bats and a guard of the nature

Abstract

A brief essay about a Ukrainian zoologist who distinguished himself in a number of studies of the waterbirds of the Dnipro basin and the bats of Polissia and Podillia. In zoology, Vadym Nehoda primarily focused on studying pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus). This research was based on his work in the Kyiv Zoo Center for Bat Rehabilitation and his studies of bats in Kyiv zoological collections. The researcher made a number of widely ranging travels, including Polissia, Podillia, the Dnipro basin, the Kola Peninsula, UK, India and Northern Africa, and later became a monk of the Shiva community of the Trakhtemyriv Meadow. For the last 10 years, he was active in protecting natural sanctuaries of the Kaniv area, in particular in the attempts to create the Middle Dnipro National Park instead of the nature-threatening project of the Kaniv pumped hydroelectric energy storage.

Keywords

• mammalogy
• fauna of Ukraine
• bats
• Theriological School
• nature protection
• Vadym Nehoda