Outbreak Of Deadly Bat Fungus Could Be 'Catastrophic,' Expert Says

[HuffingtonPost]

By Laura Zuckerman                

April 8 (Reuters) - A fungus tied to a disease devastating  hibernating bats in the United States has been found in an  Alabama cave system critical to the survival of endangered gray  bats, government scientists said on Monday.                

Detection of the fungus that causes the bat disease,  white-nose syndrome, in the Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge  in Alabama "could be pretty catastrophic" for the up to 1.6  million protected gray bats that hibernate there, said Paul  McKenzie, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species  coordinator.                

White-nose syndrome, named for the fungal residue on the  muzzles of infected bats, has decimated bat populations since it  was discovered in New York in 2006. It has spread to 22 states  and five Canadian provinces east of the Rocky Mountains, killing  more than 6 million bats.                

U.S. wildlife officials have said that experts suspect the  fungus may have been brought to the United States from Europe by  a person inadvertently carrying its spores on shoes, clothing or  other gear. Evidence of a similar fungus has been discovered in  Europe.                

The endangered gray bats are among seven species affected by  a syndrome that targets those that hibernate in caves and  abandoned mines.                

Federal scientists said the disease has not yet been found  to cause mass die-offs in gray bats. Yet the finding of infected  gray bats at Fern Cave, the single most significant hibernating  area in the world for the species, is "extremely alarming,"  McKenzie said.                

Bats with white-nose syndrome fly outside during winter  months when they should be hibernating and when there are no  insects for food. They eventually starve to death.                

The disease has caused populations of bats, estimated to  save agricultural industries billions of dollars a year in  pest-control costs, to decline by more than 80 percent in the  U.S. northeast, a U.S. Geological Survey study shows.                

The disease is mostly transmitted from bat to bat. Fungal  spores behind the disease can also be transported long distances  on the clothing and equipment of people who visit caves.                

Efforts by federal land managers to prevent the westward  spread of the disease by closing caves and unoccupied mines in  Rocky Mountain states like Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming  have been opposed by many caving enthusiasts.                

Cavers say it is senseless to close caves that have no  hibernating bats.                

"We are absolutely opposed to the blanket closure of caves.  It's ridiculous," Montana caver Mike McEachern told Reuters last  year.                

The U.S. Forest Service last month reversed a largely  blanket closure of caves and vacant mines in Colorado, Wyoming  and elsewhere. Under a plan to go into effect in summer, caves  and mines will be open with some restrictions to protect bats  from infection. Sites with hibernation colonies will be  seasonally closed and annually decontaminated.                

Conservationists said the government has caved to  recreationists at bats' expense.                

"White-nose syndrome has arrived in the very core of gray  bat habitat and it's like a bomb waiting to go off. Despite this  bad news, federal agencies in the West are backtracking on  precautionary cave measures," said Mollie Matteson, conservation  advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.     (Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Richard Chang)

Via: HuffingtonPost