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White Nose Fungus on Track to WIPEOUT US Bat Populations
It would seem that White Nose Fungus (Geomyces destructans) continues to move at a pace which could wipe-out the bat populations in the US, and even Canada!
With the fungus killing over 5 million bats in North America it has been called "...the worst wildlife health crisis in memory." by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!
One researcher at Bat Conservation International in Austin told the Washington Post of the situation; “We’re watching a potential extinction event on the order of what we experienced with bison and passenger pigeons for this group of mammals,” adding, “It could be catastrophic.”
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease affecting hibernating bats. Named for the white fungus that appears on the muzzle and other body parts of hibernating bats, WNS is associated with extensive mortality of bats in eastern North America.
First documented in New York in the winter of 2006-2007, WNS has spread rapidly across the eastern United States and Canada, and the fungus that causes WNS has been detected as far west as Oklahoma. Some experts estimate that upwards of 6.7 million bats have died since that time
The fungus is also not selective, affecting various types of bats including the little brown bat, northern long-eared bat and the tri-colored bat, all of which have witnessed gigantic population declines.
"In states like New York and Vermont and southern Ontario, we anticipate that the overall population is probably impacted on the order of 90-plus percent," said Coleman, national white-nose syndrome coordinator at the Fish and Wildlife Service.
