E- the Environmental Magazine is reporting that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced an estimated 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats have died from White Nose Syndrome (WNS).
The disease is caused by a skin-eating, cold-growing fungus; the decimation of the bats is a great worry to the agricultural and paper industries, as the mammals act as natural pesticide – eating insects and pests, (such as the emerald ash borer). All species of bats that hibernate in 17 states in the northern eastern United States and Canada are now known to be affected; particularly little brown bats , northern long-eared bats , and Indiana bats. Most of the affected species are long lived (5–15 years or more) and have only one offspring per year. Thus species affected by the fungus will not recover quickly.
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