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The Nature Conservancy closes caves to slow bat disease spread
Congressman Visclosky supports funding for white-nose syndrome research
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA — Caves on The Nature Conservancy’s properties will temporarily close as a precaution against the uncontrolled spread of white-nosed syndrome (WNS), which is killing bats in record numbers in the eastern United States.
There is no known human health risk associated with WNS in bats. While the actual cause of WNS is unknown, scientists are reasonably certain that WNS is transmitted from bat to bat. However, WNS has been found in caves a significant distance from WNS-affected hibernacula, leading scientists to suspect humans may inadvertently carry the fungus from cave to cave where bats hibernate.
“Although we have not seen this disease in Indiana, the responsible thing to do is close our caves to help slow expansion of WNS,” said DNR director Robert E. Carter Jr. in announcing the decision. “Scientists need time to get a handle on the problem and solve it.”
The voluntary action is effective May 1 and closes public access to all caves, sinkholes, tunnels and abandoned mines on Conservancy-owned land.
The closure extends through April 2010 and follows similar steps taken elsewhere in response to a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service advisory asking cavers to curtail cave activities in WNS-affected states and adjoining states. The Hoosier National Forest has closed all caves, as has Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“As (this) spreads, it threatens bat populations not only in the northeastern United States, but in the Midwest as well,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Tom Melius. “The Service strongly supports Indiana’s pro-active approach to safeguard the state’s bats. The Hoosier state is home to critically important hibernacula for endangered bats, and we believe Indiana’s action is a significant step in keeping white-nose at bay as we work together toward a solution.”
The population density of bat species in the southern part of Indiana, especially the federally endangered Indiana bat, prompted the cave closures.
“"We agree with our state and federal partners that there is good reason to be cautious,” said Ellen Jacquart, director of stewardship for The Nature Conservancy’s Indiana Chapter. “This disease puts the thousands of cave-dwelling bats that make Indiana their home at serious risk. We must take every reasonable precaution to slow the spread of this disease and attempt to safeg uard our bat populations.”
The disease got its name because affected bats appeared to have a white substance on their heads, often around their noses, and on their wings. WNS has killed an estimated 500,000 bats from Vermont to West Virginia and continues unchecked. In some hibernacula, there has been 90 to 100 percent mortality.
Congressman Pete Visclosky was one of 25 U.S. Senators and Representatives who recently sent a letter to Ken Salazar, head of the U.S. Department of the Interior, requesting emergency funding to study white nose syndrome. In the letter the legislators say, "This issue has profound public health, environmental, and economic implications. Bats are among the most beneficial animals. We are just beginning to fully appreciate the roles that bats play in North American ecosystems, and it is clear that threats like WNS have the potential to influence ecosystem function in ways that we currently do not understand. They prey almost exclusively on insects such as mosquitoes, which spread disease, and moths and beetles, which damage crops. A single bat can easily eat more than 3,000 insects a night and an entire colony will consume hundreds of millions of these crop-destroying and disease-carrying pests every year. Bats reduce the need for pesticides, which cost farmers billions of dollars every year and are harmful to human health."
WNS was first recorded in 2006 in a cave near Albany, N.Y., and within two years had spread to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont. Bat deaths were confirmed this past winter in at least seven states, including new outbreaks in Virginia and West Virginia.
Picture credits: Photo © Al Hicks / New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (Indiana bat infected with White-Nose Syndrome).
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.
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