I’ve always been fascinated by bats, even as a child when I read the storybook Stellaluna about a lost baby fruit bat. In my neighborhood, during warm spring and summer nights, it is typical to see about four or five bats zinging back and forth through the air on their great insect hunt. Wouldn’t it be sad if the bats disappeared? It could happen in the United States.
There are about 1,000 species of bats worldwide, and 45 of those species live in the United States. Extremely shy and vulnerable, bats prefer to avoid humans, living in hollow trees and caves. However, widespread habitat destruction, pollution, and a lack of adequate protections for bats have led to population declines over the past century. In fact, more than half of the bat species in the U.S. are either endangered or threatened. Now, seven bat species are in danger of extinction, largely because of a killer disease that appeared five years ago—White Nose Syndrome.
An Ecological Disaster
During the winter of 2006-2007, biologists in upstate New York discovered a cave of dead bats with a white fungus covering their faces, bodies, and wings. They dubbed the disease White Nose Syndrome.
White Nose Syndrome. Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org
Since then, White Nose Syndrome has become the worst wildlife disease outbreak to ever hit North America. Over the past five years, the disease has spread to 19 states and 4 Canadian provinces, killing over 5.7 million bats in the two countries. If White Nose Syndrome continues to spread, it could affect at least half of the bat species in North America. It has had a particularly harmful effect for bats that were endangered already. These include the Virginia Big-eared Bat, Indiana Bat, Gray Bat, Eastern Small-footed Bat, and Ozark Big-eared Bat.
This is a video from 2009 discussing White Nose Syndrome and how it had affected bat populations, specifically the Indiana Bat, by then. The source of White Nose Syndrome had not been found at that point:
What is White Nose Syndrome?
White Nose Syndrome attacks by covering the bats with a fungus that damages their connective tissues, muscles, and skin. It also disrupts the bats’ physiological functions such as sleep patterns, causing them to wake up every 3-4 days during hibernation instead of the normal every 10-20 days. This uses up precious energy that the bats need to make it through the winter. Bats that wake up become dehydrated and hungry because there are no insects to eat during the winter. According to the Organization for Bat Conservation, 90-100 percent of affected bats die from starvation. There is no cure.
Where did it come from, and how does it spread?
Biologists and wildlife conservationists reported five days ago on Monday, April 9, that the disease was caused by a fungus from Europe brought to New York by cavers with spores attached to their shoes, clothing, or equipment. European bats are not harmed by the fungus because they evolved with it in the same environment. White Nose Syndrome is now spread from bat to bat and by people who go in the affected caves. Spores attach to the cavers or tourists who then unknowingly carry them to the next cave, causing more bats to become infected.
Environmental and wildlife conservation groups such as the Organization for Bat Conservation and the Center for Biological Diversity have been trying to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome. The Organization for Bat Conservation has donated large sums of money to researchers trying to find a cure. Three days ago on April 11, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the White House Council on Environmental Quality to stop the spread of the disease. The CBD asked the White House to direct land management agencies to limit human entry to caves on public lands. Some agencies have already closed caves or enacted mandatory decontamination procedures, but many in the west have not. So far, the disease has been confirmed as far west as Oklahoma and Missouri on March 29, 2012. It is crucial that western land management agencies close the caves or enact decontamination protocols before White Nose Syndrome spreads out there and decimates even more bat populations.
2012 Map of White Nose Syndrome. Source: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
Why are bats so important, anyway?
In addition to the intrinsic importance of conserving wildlife and biodiversity, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects such as moths, beetles, and mosquitos. Each bat can eat thousands of insects every night, meaning they are important for maintaining ecological balance. They are critical to forestry, human health, and the agricultural industry. Fewer bats would lead to more mosquito-borne diseases. Bats act as pollinators and save the agriculture industry about $23 billion in pest control. Increased insect populations will cause agriculture industries to use more pesticides, negatively impacting other wildlife and beneficial insects as well as leading to a possible increase in the cost of food.
What can you do to help?
- If you find a live or dead bat with White Nose Syndrome, DO NOT TOUCH. Contact the state wildlife agency or a nearby U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office.
- Do not enter caves that are blocked or have signs posted.
- Avoid caves with large populations of hibernating bats.
- Follow decontamination protocols when caving or visiting mines.
- Support efforts to block all but the most essential human travel into caves and abandoned mines, especially in the west, to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome.
- Write to your congressman asking him to support the Wildlife Disease Emergency Act and support the allocation of additional funds for research to find a cure.
- Donate to organizations like the Organization for Bat Conservation and the Center for Conservation Biology.
- Plant wildflower gardens that attract moths to provide a food source for bats.
- If dead or dying trees do not pose a threat to you, leave them up because they provide great natural shelter for bats.
- Build or buy a bat house to provide shelter. (This will also help you if you are having trouble keeping bats out of your house).
Thanks for reading! I really wish there was more we could do to help the bats. I hope they find a way to get rid of the fungus in our caves without hurting the ecosystems inside them.
What do you think? Please let me know in the comments.
One Species at a Time 