White Nose Syndrome Has Killed At Least 1,000,000 Bats In Eastern US Since 2006 Index Cases

[hatrack]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For many West Virginians, seeing bats silhouetted against a darkening sky is as familiar as seeing trees on a mountainside. That might change. More than a million bats throughout the Eastern United States have died of "white-nose syndrome," a malady caused by a fungus that attaches to bats, interrupts their hibernation and causes them to die of starvation and exposure.

The fungus, first detected in Schoharie County, N.Y., in February 2006, turned up in four Pendleton County caves during the winter of 2008-09. It has since spread to caves in Pocahontas, Mercer and Jefferson counties. On Feb. 23, state Division of Natural Resources officials announced that an infected bat had been confirmed in Pendleton County's Hellhole Cave, the state's largest and most important bat hibernation center.

The syndrome's discovery in Hellhole sent shock waves through biologists throughout the country. An estimated 200,000 bats spend the winter there. The cave is critical habitat for two nationally endangered species, the Virginia big-eared bat and the Indiana bat. Forty percent of the world's entire hibernating population of Virginia big-eared bats calls Hellhole home. Jack Wallace, environmental resource specialist for the DNR's Wildlife Diversity Program, says white-nose syndrome stands to become "the largest wildlife threat on record."

" could become even bigger than the population collapse that led to the extinction of the passenger pigeon," Wallace added. "The situation is sad, scary and frustrating. We only hope we can find a way to combat it before we lose most of the bats in the East." As dramatic as that sounds, it appears possible. In the four years since bats began dying in New York, entire populations have disappeared. "Biologists are saying there are no bats left. They're pretty much gone," Wallace said.

EDIT

http://wvgazette.com/News/201003260012

[catbyte]

1. That's truly scary

At first, my knee jerk reaction was, "Lay off the coke", but then my brain kicked in. We could have epidemics of all kinds of diseases--West Nile Virus, etc. because bats control the insect population. It's sad and scary. I hope it ends soon.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. I thought the headline said 'white noise' syndrome -

is urban noise interfering with with bats' sonar, so they can't feed?

[joshcryer]

3. Welp, we can build all the wind we want, now.

[FedUpWithIt All]

4. This really upsets me. There are consequences here that we will really regret.

:scared:

[joshcryer]

5. Tragic that it appears to have been propogated by unaware scientists.

Geomyces destructans is a pretty apt name given how bad it's hitting the bat populations.