Finding Franklin Bats
Finding Franklin Bats (FFB) is our local project based in the Franklin area, within the Auckland city boundaries. The kaupapa focuses on raising awareness of pekapeka, supporting community monitoring, and building knowledge about where bats are found across the region. By working with schools, landowners, and community groups, Finding Franklin Bats creates opportunities for people to experience these nocturnal taonga, learn how to detect and protect them, and play an active role in their conservation.
If you’d like to stay up to date with the FFB project, follow along on social media.
Coverage
In the press
Dog Squad featuring Hawk the bat dog and Finding Franklin Bats
Hawke the bat dog hits the small screen! Catch Hawke on TVNZ+'s *Dog Squad* as he helps the Finding Franklin Bats project track down Aotearoa's elusive pekapeka. Conservation, canine talent, and native wildlife all in one show!
Watch → Pekapeka | Billy Mclean
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Funding Finding Franklin Bats
Read article → ‘We’ve got bats’: The community bringing New Zealand’s pekapeka into the spotlight
A community-led bat research group, one of the first in the country, is working to help save the New Zealand long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) by conducting surveys for bats in and around Franklin county, near Auckland.
Read article → Wild Heroes Featuring Finding Franklin Bats
Watch as we take our mates from Auckland Zoo along with us to show them what we get up to during bat season!
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Champions for Pekapeka: Reflections from the National Pekapeka Hui 2026
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Franklin to host bat hui
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Funding will help ‘critically threatened’ long-tailed bats
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Finding Franklin’s bats
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Finding Franklin Bats: Protecting pekapeka long-tail bats in Franklin
Auckland Council showcasing what Finding Franklin Bats is all about.
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