White-nose Syndrome Takes Toll on PA Bat Population

Transcript

MALONGOWSKI: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that since 2006, when white nose syndrome was initially discovered, as many as 6.7 million bats have died from white nose syndrome.

Spokeswoman Ann Froschauer says some bat species are affected more than others, but typically the fungal disease is 80 to 85 percent fatal.

FROSCHAUER: The little brown bat in the Northeast is right around 90 percent mortality right now. So... that doesnít leave a lot of bats to try to repopulate. So there continues to be problems for the remaining bats.

MALONGOWSKI: Some caves in Pennsylvania that have been tracked are even worse. For instance, in Bucks County, the Durham caves had nearly 7,400 bats in 2004. In 2011, only 161 bats were counted-- a stunning 98 percent loss over seven years. This was once home to one of the largest wild bat populations in the state.

Other tracked Pennsylvania caves arenít any better. Three caves had bats in the single digits. One cave had no bats at all.

Froschauer says even with current efforts to repopulate bats, it could take centuries to bring them back to previous population levels. Bats can only produce about one baby per year.

For the Allegheny Front, Iím Kate Malongowski.