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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fungus a serious threat to bats

Expert says die-offs could go nationwide

This dead Indiana bat,  found in an abandoned mine in Rosendale, N.Y., died of white-nose syndrome.  (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Dina Cappiello Associated Press

WASHINGTON – A mysterious fungus attacking America’s bats could spread nationwide within years and represents the most serious threat to wildlife in a century, experts warned Congress on Thursday.

Displaying pictures of bats speckled with the white fungus that gave the disease its name – white-nose syndrome – experts described to two House subcommittees Thursday the horror of discovering caves where bats had been decimated by the disease.

At stake is the loss of an insect-eating machine. The six species of bats that have so far been stricken by the fungus can eat up to their body weight in insects in one night, reducing insects that destroy crops and forests and carry disease such as West Nile virus.

“We are witnessing one of the most precipitous declines of wildlife in North America,” said Thomas Kunz, director of the Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology at Boston University.

Since it was first discovered in a cave west of Albany, N.Y., in March 2007, white-nose syndrome has spread to 65 caves in nine states, turning up last winter in West Virginia and Virginia, federal wildlife officials said. There are also several caves suspected of harboring the fungus in Canada.

To date it has killed between 500,000 to 1 million bats, mostly common species. But what has wildlife officials concerned is the fungus looks to be on the verge of entering the Southeast and Midwest, where some of the most endangered and largest populations of bats live.

The Interior Department and Forest Service have so far spent $5 million researching the problem, closed caves to people on forest lands in 33 states and urged the public not to enter caves or abandoned mines in states with white-nose syndrome. While there is no evidence humans can be harmed by the fungus, they may be contributing to its spread.

The fungus attacks bats during winter hibernation, when they are most vulnerable and their temperature is lowered so they can last through the winter on the fat they’ve put on by feasting on insects.

Research has shown that the fungus thrives in cold temperatures and the densities of bats huddled on the ceilings and walls of cave likely help it to spread.

How exactly the fungus kills bats is poorly understood, but once the fungus attaches it invades tissues. The bat then fidgets, burning up its excess energy. Most simply starve and die, others leave the cave prematurely to look for nonexistent food in the winter and perish.