Agency Plans to Save Bats from White-nose Syndrome

The UN Convention on Migratory Species has declared 2011 as the Year of the Bat to raise awareness around what Dr. Merlin Tuttle of Bat Conservation International calls one of "our planet's most misunderstood and intensely persecuted mammals." Instead of celebrating them for their role in insect control and crop pollination, people still run for cover out of fear that they will get tangled in our hair and infect us with rabies.

Bats can use all the awareness and assistance they can get these days. As we head into another cold winter, bats in the northeastern U.S. face the prospect of dying from white-nose syndrome. Over 1 million bats have succumbed to this deadly fungus since it was first discovered in 2007. Scientific models have predicted the extinction of little brown bats, one of the most common bat species, in the next 20 years.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of developing a plan to combat white-nose syndrome. Standard procedure allows for 60 days to collect public comments on the plan before it is finalized. The deadline for the comment period is December 26th, and conservation organizations are calling on their supporters to participate.

Natural Resources Defense Council is spreading the word through action alerts and asking USFWS to act quickly and finalize the plan in a way that will benefit bats the most. You can sign the petition available on their website, which will be sent as a public comment to the USFWS white-nose syndrome coordinators.

What does NRDC believe the plan should focus on to best protect bats? Scientific research, monitoring and conservation plans. Reasonable requests, considering USFWS already partners with a number of scientists and organizations on bat issues. There has even been progress with scientific research toward anti-fungal drugs that are effective against white-nose syndrome.

Proactive involvement is the key to ensuring bat survival in the wild, rather than using zoo captivity to conserve the various species. In addition to concerns over the ethics and potential for success of captive programs, zoos often focus on reserving space for the attractive animals. Bats and attractive are two words not commonly paired together. “Zoos full of endangered but ugly animals will never make money,” argues Daniel Frynta, an ecologist from Prague's Charles University.

It would be well advised to take the lesson learned from other species and apply the knowledge to saving bats from white-nose syndrome. Evolution is allowing for restoration of a number of frog species across the world distressed by another fungal infection. This revelation could not be possible without the actions of research and monitoring.

Let’s fight to save these species and ring in the Year of the Bat with a strong plan to unlock the mysteries of white-nose syndrome. I will gladly toast to that.

Photo Credit: Marvin Moriarty of USFWS/Northeast