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White-Nose Syndrome Creating "Wildlife Crisis" For Bat Deaths At Mammoth Cave National Park

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White-nose syndrome, a disease deadly to bats and with no known cure, has created a "wildlife crisis" at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, where some bat species have declined as much as 80 percent compared to 2013 population counts, according to park officials.

While the infection, which has killed millions of bats since it was discovered in a New York cave in 2006, seems to be spreading in the park's caves, scheduled cave tours are continuing with relatively minor alternations in times and routes taken. Bat research and monitoring are continuing as well.

“This is a wildlife crisis, unprecedented in our time,” said Mammoth Cave Superintendent Sarah Craighead. “There is no known cure for white-nose syndrome. With the help of wildlife veterinarians and public health officials, however, we have developed plans to minimize its spread by visitors traveling from the park. We are also communicating with our visitors and partners, and are responding to changing situations as they occur.”

White-nose syndrome, a fungus, grows on bats’ bare skin (muzzles, wings, and tails) during their winter hibernation, when their body temperatures and immune systems are reduced. It causes bats to awake from hibernation and fly from the cave, exposing them to the elements and wasting energy and fluids vital to their survival. Dead bats are found to be underweight and dehydrated. White-nose syndrome is not known to affect humans.

Superintendent Craighead requested a site visit by the National Park Service Disease Outbreak Investigation Team, which traveled to the park in December. Comprised of wildlife veterinarians, epidemiologists, and public health officials, the team reviewed park operations and discussed options with the park managers.

One issue the team examined was the increased potential for contact between bats and humans, both inside and outside the cave. In addition to waking the bats, WNS also causes them to behave erratically, thereby increasing the potential for contact with humans. In 2014 there were 11 reports of such contact in the park.

“Bats that have WNS lose their ability to maneuver quickly around objects, like people,” said Rick Toomey, director of the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning. “Bats can carry diseases, such as rabies, and though transmission rates are very low, there is a risk that cannot be totally dismissed. However, we consider the risk of a person contracting rabies from a bat at Mammoth Cave to be small.”

Comments

The bats will adapt or go extinct. It's the way of evolution for billions of years. I think it's so funny that some humans like Craighead see this as a wildlife crisis. If she thinks this apparent failure to adapt by bats is a crisis, what would Craighead call the dinosaur extinction? Adapt or die bats.


It's so funny that she is doing her job? How thin is the air on your exalted perch?


Well, some people don't see this as a crisis, but once there are few bats in the system, and they are no longer there to consume billions of pounds of insects, we'll see how much the residents enjoy it when diseases begin to spiral upwards and their children start going the way of the dinosaurs.

This comment was edited to remove gratuitous language.-Ed.


One can just as easily say that the H. sapiens response to this event as a crisis is also part of evolution.  Not to see that is pretty funny.


Agree justinh. 


I think the difference is that this event is not natural, in the sense that is is caused by humans. Some argue that humans are a part of nature, so all of our actions must be natural by extension, and while I agree with that to a certain point, I also believe that we have a responsibility to be concientious about our actions. This is not a disease that got introduced slowly over time like it did in Europe where the bats DID evolve and DO survive. It is something that was brought over to these populations in an instant, and there was no opportunity for bats to evolve to it and survive. By learning about the disease and slowing its spread, the opportunity for the affected individuals and species to adapt, evole, and survive is what we are providing. The case of the dinosaurs is completely different. It was not a human caused event, and it also wasn't a disease.... it was a one time natural extreme event that wiped out species. This still occurs today... it is possible for hurricanes, tornados, fires, and the like to wipe out unique species that are found in small environmental niches. There is nothing we can do to stop those events. But we can stop or slow human spread diseases, like White Nost Syndrome. 

It also IS a crisis. If you want to ignore the lost biodiversity and species richness, we will also be losing a free and valauble tool. Little Brown bats can eat up to 600 mesquitos an hour! Imagine how many more chemicals we will have to use on our skin and food to protect it from insects and the diseases they carry in a world without bats! Imagine the unknown repercussions of those chemicals and their impacts on OUR health as a species. It also behooves humans as a species to help the bats in their plight for our own evolution and survivial. 

You may never see this comment, but others will. Thanks. 


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