Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

October 11, 2008 11:33:47 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Deadly Disease Ravaging Bats

Posted Mar 25, 08 5:57 AM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – A mysterious syndrome is wiping out colonies of hibernating bats and baffling biologists, the New York Times reports. Experts don't know what causes the "white nose syndrome" or how it spreads, but they warn that bat populations in the Northeast are being devastated. Field researchers report bats flying out of caves in the middle of the day and dying in the snow. Some 90% of hibernating bats in four New York caves studied have died.

The dead bats are found with their winter reserves of fat used up and dusted with a white fungus. "This may be the most serious threat to North American bats we’ve experienced in recorded history," one expert warned. Biologists, who are working hard to figure out what is killing the bats, say that the die-off will lead to burgeoning insect populations this spring.

Source New York Times

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon
Scientists look for bats in an abandoned limestone mine in Rosendale , N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. Bats are mysteriously dying off by the thousands as they hibernate around New York.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
Britta Wood, a scientist for the New York State Health Department, enters an abandoned limestone mine to collect bats in Rosendale, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
Bats are seen in an abandoned limestone mine in Rosendale, N.Y., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. Bats are mysteriously dying off by the thousands as they hibernate around New York.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
White-nose syndrome in bats   (driggswv (YouTube))

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (
1
 of 1)

Tags

endangered species  • wildlife  • biologists  • hibernation  • caves  • bats


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular

Loading...

Other Science & Health Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »