Gray Bats Could Go Extinct Following White-Nose Disease Epidemic

Endangered gray bats are fighting for their lives as deadly cases of white-nose disease continue to spread, raising the very real possibility that the bats could become extinct in the next two years unless a solution is found.

The killing of bats through white-nose disease is nothing new, million of bats in other species have died in caves and mines throughout the northeastern United States and the gray bat according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are even more susceptible since they live year-round in caves which allows white-nose disease to spread at faster rates.

According to biologists ninety percent of gray bats gather in just nine caves located in five states with colonies as large as 1 million in size.

The loss of the bats population could be devastating to farmers since the bats eat upwards of 223 billion insects per year, in fact 250,000 gray bats can east one tone of beetles, moths, flies and other pests that can infect farmers fields and cause harm to various types of crops.

The gray bats were listed on the endangered list in the 1970s and were nearly removed from that list until white-nose disease was discovered in the bats in March.

Not all bats are falling to white-nose disease, Virginai’s big-earned bats are living in caves with the disease and thriving, giving biologists hope for the future.

Caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans the white-nose disease eats through a bats skin and membranes. The disease spreads easily and there is no cure.