Graphic showing where white-nose syndrome has spread/USFWS
White-nose syndrome, a disease fatal to some species of bats, has turned up in Carlsbad Cavern at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.
A park release said that swabs collected in early May from cave Myotis bats in the Left Hand Tunnel area of Carlsbad Cavern and near the Rattlesnake Springs day-use area tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS).
White-nose syndrome, which takes its name from a white powder on the bats’ muzzles and wings, was first documented in New York in 2006. Bats become infected during hibernation through physical contact from other bats or a roost surface, which enables the disease to spread quickly through a colony. Bats infected with WNS are active more frequently, which uses up fat reserves and leads to starvation and often death before spring. In some cases, bats that should be hibernating have been spotted flying outside in the cold.
A U.S. Geological Surey research epidemiologist has been working to develop a vaccine to treat bats with WNS, which has killed millions of North American bats in about 39 states and two Canadian provinces. More than 90 percent of northern long-eared, little brown, and tri-colored bat populations have been decimated by the disease in the last decade. Due to the high mortality rate, the northern long-eared bat is an endangered species and the tri-colored is proposed for endangered species status under the Endangered Species Act.
At Carlsbad Caverns, the park's colony of migratory Brazilian free-tailed bats is not expected to suffer the same impacts as species that hibernate.
National parks are home to 45 species of bats, keystone species essential to ecosystems, and the disease has been spreading through the National Park System. At Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota, for example, white-nose syndrome has been blamed for a 97 percent drop in the little brown bat population.
Bats are important for healthy ecosystems and contribute at least $3 billion annually to the U.S. agriculture economy through pest control and pollination.
The Park Service has asked the public for help in stopping the spread of this disease. The best way you can help protect bats is by staying out of caves and areas that are closed. If you see a dead or sick bat, notify park rangers or state biologists. Do not handle bats. Additionally, you can help slow the spread of WNS by decontaminating your caving and hiking gear and boots. Do not reuse gear that has been used in WNS-affected areas. Visit https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/ for more information.
At Carlsbad Caverns National Park, staff is increasing efforts to mitigate the spread of white-nose syndrome to other areas. These steps will include the decontamination of caving and research equipment before and after entry and visitor footwear.
Comments
There is really no evidence that man is responsible for the spread of the fungus that causes WNS. The federal land management agencies feel that they must appear to be doing something about it, even though their efforts are useless. Many, many caves on federal land have been closed for over a decade to ostensibly prevent cavers and others from spreading the disease. Why has this done nothing to slow the spead? The answer is manifest, bats themselves are the vector. The reader of this article should ask themselves two questions. How does man, who walks on the floor of the cave, spread fungal spores to bats that roost on the ceiling? Secondly, if the fungus is already inside Carlsbad Caverns, why must people clean their footwear before entering the cave? Do yourself a favor, if you visit Carlsbad Caverns and are asked if you are wearing anything that has been worn in another cave, the answer is "No".
"The Park Service has asked the public for help in stopping the spread of this disease. The best way you can help protect bats is by staying out of caves and areas that are closed."
Wild caves only. Recreational caving is the work of the unsophisticated philistine. It's ok to still visit developed caves that employ park rangers apparently. It's almost as if they think we are stupid.