White-nose Syndrome Threatens Bats in the US with Extinction

A little brown myotis with white-nose syndrome (Image Via: discovery)

Bats enjoy the unique distinction of being the only mammals in the animal kingdom capable of genuine and sustained flight. A majority of the over 1,000 bat species in the world are insectivores while some are obligate insectivores – feeding exclusively on a diet of insects that often pose health and other risks to humans and our eco system.

The recent discovery of a fungus that is decimating populations of obligate insectivorous bats in parts of the United States and Canada, has set off alarm bells amongst zoologists and leading bat experts in the world.

White-nose syndrome…

Is what this emerging fungal disease (which currently has no cure) is called and it has already affected nine species of hibernating bats in certain parts of the US and Canada.

The nature of the disease?

The fungus attacks the skin, sebaceous glands and hair follicles on bats and its growth deleteriously affects the bat’s immune system.

The result…

Of the fungus attack is a behavioral change in the bats where they come out of their hibernation well before they should and use up their fat reserves long before they can replenish them. These bats have a voracious appetite, consuming nearly 100 percent of their body weight in insects each night!

Consequently the bats run out of energy reserves and die.

The disease has already accounted for nearly one million bats and projections predict regional extinctions of bat populations within the next 20 years in the US and Canada if the fungus isn’t successfully curtailed.