Bat species listed as threatened

DETROIT – The federal government said Wednesday that it is listing the northern long-eared bat as threatened, giving new protections to a species that has been nearly wiped out in some areas by the spread of a fungal disease.

White-nose syndrome was first discovered among bats in a cave near Albany, New York, in 2006 and since has killed millions of the flying mammals in the Northeast, South and Midwest. It spreads while they congregate on the wet walls of caves or abandoned mines, interrupting their hibernation and causing them to starve or dehydrate.

“Bats are a critical component of our nation’s ecology and economy,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe said in a statement. He said they play a key role in insect control and “we lose them at our peril.”

The service concluded the northern long-eared bat meets the criteria for a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

While the threat to the northern long-eared bats and its cousins is dire, the tools to protect them are limited, said Tony Sullins of Fish and Wildlife. That’s because the main threat is from a disease. The protective measures improve their breeding opportunities by restricting some logging and tree removal from forest areas where the bats spend the warmer months.