White-nose syndrome is killing off millions of already endangered bats

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Over 5 million bats have died across 19 states, due to white nose syndrome, or WNS, a fungus that infects cave dwelling bat populations. Now conservationists in Tennessee are testing out a new way to protect the bats from the debilitating fungus....

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Many are not aware of the importance bats play in ecosystems worldwide. With news that they are carriers of mass infectious diseases (such as rabies and ebola), not to mention their connoted relationship to death (but also good luck and rebirth!), people may turn up their noses upon the news that bats are endangered. Diseases such as white-nose syndrome and loss of habitat are playing key roles in the demise of millions of the winged mammals.

PA Game Commission (can use per website)

Many species of bat eat pesky bugs such as mosquitoes and other crop destroying insects, while spreading seeds and pollinating plants and flowers, taking over where the daytime bees have left off. However, come springtime, there may be considerably fewer bats doing those jobs, as a new wave of white-nose syndrome is sweeping through whole populations, reports the Washington Times via the Associated Press, Jan. 24.

In Michigan, the first reports of white-nose syndrome infected bats have turned up. That means that the light at the end of the tunnel that we saw last summerin lieu of last year’s white-nose syndrome victims may have dimmed. Per the AP report, the Department of Natural Resources expects die-offs from the disease to be widespread. They say that “people may see dead or dying bats on the ground or roosting on trees or buildings,” and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Efforts are in the works by scientists and conservationists to come up with solutions that may save the bats. However, solutions may not come soon enough. Last year, the disease spread to half of the US and it’s estimated to have killed more than six million bats on the east coast since 2006. The disease is moving west and into Canada at an alarming rate. If a colony of bats is infected, 100% of the creatures living there can die.

*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com