Urgent Efforts to Protect Bats from White-Nose Syndrome

In Highlands, North Carolina, within the depths of an old 19th-century goldmine, scientists are in a fierce battle to prevent a bat species from being wiped out by white-nose syndrome.

Tricolored bats in North Carolina are perilously unstable, sharing their plight with other bats rapidly declining in numbers due to this syndrome. These bats are crucial to the ecosystem as they consume insects that are harmful to crops.

Rada Petrick, a specialist in bats and a biology research assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, emphasizes the increased reliance on pesticides as bat populations dwindle. While these creatures may appear daunting, the real threat is a voracious fungus infecting their skin and wings.

Key figures in the conservation efforts, Lindsey Zarecky from the Greensboro Science Center and Olivia Munzer from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, are among those leading the charge to protect these bats.

Zarecky notes the primary task at hand: counting the remaining bats in the cave. Currently, only a sparse number of bats inhabit the space. It's not merely the fungus itself that proves deadly; during their winter slumber, the irritating symptom of white noses rouses them prematurely.

Awake and disoriented, these bats expend vital energy searching for non-existent food and eventually succumb to starvation.

To counter this, biologists have introduced an inventive approach to ensure the bats increase their food reserves before hibernation by installing a light to attract insects close to the caves. The strategy is to enhance the bats' fat levels, increasing their chances of withstanding the hibernation period, explains Petrick.

According to Munzer, while the strategy requires patience, it also provides a hopeful outlook as the bats adapt and potentially survive the winter despite the fungal threat.

White-nose syndrome was initially identified in North America at the start of the 21st century. By 2018, over 90% of the populations of little brown bats, northern long-eared bats, and tricolored bats had declined due to the disease, as reported by the National Park Service.