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The Worst Wildlife Disease Outbreak Ever in North America Just Got Way Worse http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1365519610
The US Fish and Wildlife Service confirms white-nose syndrome (WNS) is present at Fern Cave National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. This cave provides winter hibernation space for several bat species, including the largest documented wintering colony of endangered gray bats. More than a million individuals of this federally listed and IUCN listed species nest at Fern Cave.
White-nose syndrome--a fungal disease possibly imported from Europe on the boots of spelunkers (cave explorers)--hits bats at their winter hibernation roosts. It was first identified in North America in New York in 2006/2007 and has since spread to 22 states (more on that here) and five Canadian provinces. WNS has decimated bat populations with mortality rates reaching 100 percent at some sites. In the northeastern US, bat numbers have plummeted by at least 80 percent, says the USGS, with ~6.7 million bats killed continent wide. The Center for Biological Diversity reports that biologists consider this the worst wildlife disease outbreak ever in North America.
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[Read more stories about:
white nose syndrome, ecosystem interrelationships]
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'Doc Michael says:
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The boots of spelunkers? All this time I thought the bats were doing drugs!
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