By Rhishja Larson •
October 28, 2009
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded 6 grants totaling $800,000 to determine the cause and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome that has killed over a million bats in the Northeast.
Six grants have been awarded through the USFWS Preventing Extinction program for research to determine the cause, find a cure, and stop the spread of deadly white-nose syndrome in bats. Since its discovery in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has killed more than a million bats of six species in nine states - and biologists warn this is most devastating wildlife health crisis to face North America in the last 100 years.
By Rhishja Larson •
October 27, 2009
Bats may be considered a spooky Halloween mascot, but they are actually one of the most beneficial animals on the planet: 70% of the world’s bat species feed on insects - and one bat can consume up to 1,000 insect pests in an hour. Bats also play a critical role in pollination and seed dispersal.
Despite the fact that bats occur nearly everywhere on earth (except for arctic and desert extremes), 60 species of bats are listed as endangered. And in the U.S., an estimated million or more hibernating bats of six species have been killed by White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in nine states since 2006.
To help raise awareness for bats, here is a compilation of 10 facts about bats - and a diverse photo gallery of bat species celebrating the surprising cuteness of these creatures. Enjoy!
A fungal infection in the Northeastern Little Brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) known as white-nose syndrome has been sickening bats for the past three years. The illness strikes worst when the bats are at their most vulnerable–during their winter hibernation period.
The disease, which presents as white patches on the bats’ skin and disrupts their winter “sleep”, kills nearly 80% of those stricken. Essentially, the infection causes the bats to rouse from their hibernatory rest repeatedly, and so, to stay warm, they [...]
By Kay Sexton •
May 5, 2009
It’s still not clear what is killing the bat populations, but what is known is that bats with WNS wake up more frequently from their winter hibernation which means they use up their fat stores, forcing them to leave the caves to seek food before the insect populations are around so that they simply starve to death.
Feds suggest a delay in 3 projects so they can study dying bats
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has sent a letter to to the developers of three wind farms in upstate New York strongly urging they consider other locations for their proposed projects. Biologists for the agency are concerned that the wind farms will further threaten imperiled bat populations suffering from an unprecedented die-off.
One of the wind energy developers, Iberdrola Renewables has decided to hold off on moving forward with the Horse Creek project until the impacts of white nose syndrome on bat populations are better understood. But developers of the other two projects have yet to make similar moves.
There is little known about the so-called “white nose syndrome,” so-named because of the white substance found on the face of the sick bats. The unexplained illness has killed of tens of thousands of small brown bats throughout the northeast over the past two winters. As temperatures warm and bats emerge from a winter of hibernation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sent letters to three Jefferson County (NY) wind developers “strongly urging them to look at other places” for their proposed wind energy projects.
Bats across New York state are dying from a mysterious malady known as “white-nose syndrome.”
Named for the white fungal growth that appears around the noses of infected bats, the condition has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of bats in the Northeastern U.S., mostly in New York but now spreading to other states as well.
The syndrome was first discovered last year in four bat hibernating caves near Albany. It’s now been observed at “virtually every significant bat hibernation site in New York,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
