Endangered Bats Face Many Problems

Additional Resources Wild Animals

Bats, the night flying mammals often woven into the folklore of peoples around the world, are facing some real dangers of their own.

According to the IUCN Bat Specialist Group the 1,116 species of known bats in the world constitute approximately twenty percent of all known land mammals. Close to one-half of the bat species are threatened or near threatened with extinction, due mostly to habitat loss.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "Of the 45 species of bats found in the continental United States, six are federally-listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.

These species include the: gray bat (Myotis grisescens), Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), Ozark big-eared bat (Corynorhinus (=Plecotus) townsendii ingens), Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus (=Plecotus) townsendii virginianus), lesser long-nosed (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae), Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis), Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus)(Hawaii), little Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus tokudae)(Guam), and Mariana fruit bat (=Mariana flying fox) (Pteropus mariannus mariannus)(Guam).

Bat Conservation International reports on White-nose Syndrome, an illness of some sort that is drastically reducing bat populations in the Northeast United States. The latest information suggests that the illness is linked to a fungus.

Finally, the recent push for increased wind power projects has also had a deleterious effect on bat populations around the world. Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey are trying to understand the problem.

Apparently bat fatalities are recorded wherever wind turbines are placed. The majority of fatalities are attributed to migratory species, so researchers are hypothesizing about the relationship between migratory habits and wind turbine fatalities.

© 2009. Patricia A. Michaels