UPDATE:FUNGUS KILLING MILLIONS OF BATS - 'Largest WV Wildlife Threat On Record'

(05/10/2010)

It could be the biggest wildlife threat in decades. More than a million bats have died of "white-nose syndrome," a malady caused by a fungus that attaches to bats, interrupts their hibernation and causes them to die of starvation and exposure. Observers believe the bat population in Calhoun and the region is being affected by the disease. The death of the bat population could mean a serious blow to the eco-system, each bat catching thousands of insects everyday. The Division of Natural Resources has announced that infected bats have been confirmed in Pendleton County's Hellhole Cave, the state's largest and most important bat hibernation center. The discovery in Hellhole sent shock waves through biologists throughout the country since an estimated 200,000 bats spend the winter there. Also, Hellhole Cave is a critical habitat for two nationally endangered species, the Virginia big-eared bat and the Indiana bat. Forty percent of the world's entire hibernating population of Virginia big-eared bats calls Hellhole home. The DNR says white-nose syndrome stands to become "the largest wildlife threat on record." The loss of bats to white-nose could become even bigger than the population collapse that led to the extinction of the passenger pigeon. In the four years since bats began dying in New York, entire populations have disappeared. Biologists in New York are saying there are no bats left. Officials say there is no known solution.

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