White-nose Syndrome
Let’s be honest. Most people don’t think of bats as being as cuddly as polar bears or honeybees.
But bats are endangered, too--a plague is attacking North American bats as we speak, called White-nose Syndrome. And bats play a vital role in the ecosystem, supressing insect populations (which protects economically vital crops and prevents disease), and pollinating many plants.
White-nose Syndrome has devastated bat populations across the eastern United States during the past four years, causing “the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America,” according to biologists. And this relentless disease keeps spreading into new areas. BCI is working with agencies, organizations and individuals to understand and stop WNS and begin restoring these decimated bat populations.
Since White-nose Syndrome was discovered in a single New York cave in February 2006, more than a million hibernating bats of nine species have been killed by the disease in fourteen states.
Named for a cold-loving white fungus typically found on the faces and wings of infected bats, White-nose Syndrome causes bats to awaken more often during hibernation and use up the stored fat reserves that are needed to get them through the winter. Infected bats often emerge too soon from hibernation and are often seen flying around in midwinter. These bats usually freeze or starve to death.
Mortality rates approaching 100 percent are reported at some sites. White-nose Syndrome has now moved into Canada, Maryland, Tennessee and Missouri. It threatens some of the largest hibernation caves for endangered Indiana myotis, gray myotis, and Virginia big-eared bats. Ultimately, bats across North America are at imminent risk (thanks to Bat Conservation International for this information).
What can you do?
Look at the resources below to learn more about White-nose Syndrome.
Support research into White-nose Syndrome. Resources are desperately needed to fight WNS.
You can donate to Bat Conservation International and direct your donation to WNS research.
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