Since the discovery in 2007 of a new cold-loving fungus associated with bat mortality, well over a million bats have died, and the disease, named White Nose Syndrome [WNS], has spread across eastern North America. It was officially found in Ontario and Quebec in late winter 2010, and has spread to the American mid-west, encompassing much of the eastern US. The mortality rate from the disease and secondary starvation at some caves is 100%, with some rare bat species facing critical decline.

All hibernating bats are at risk across the continent. WNS is being touted as an ecological disaster; US working groups and agencies are undertaking research, funding research efforts across the continent and urging governments to support bat research and inventory efforts before WNS spreads to western North America.

Photos courtesy of Ryan von Linden, New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and Wil Orndorff, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation - Division of Natural Heritage

What Impact Might this have in Western Canada?
Movement of bats between Manitoba and Ontario has been documented in historic banding records, so it is expected that WNS will appear in Manitoba soon.

In Alberta, precautions are being taken, with the closure of known bat hibernacula, including the gating of Cadomin Cave, a popular recreational cave known to house approximately 800 hibernating bats each winter.

British Columbia has the most to lose of any province in Canada, as this province is home to 16 species of bats, the greatest bat diversity in the nation. Fourteen of these species are thought to hibernate, and would therefore be at risk of dying from WNS. Of the 16 species of bats in B.C., half are red or blue-listed and 13 have Conservation Data Center listings other than Secure. Once listed as a 'Secure' species throughout its range across North America, little brown bats are being hardest hit by WNS; in affected areas in the US northeast this once common species has plummeted to <25% pre-WNS levels.

What Can be Done?
While bats are likely the main mode of spread of this fungus, humans have the potential to bring the fungus into the west in one giant leap.

Avoid going underground [into caves and mines] in the west if you have been in any sites in eastern North America or Europe that could house bats [e.g. caves, mines, attics].

Spores of this fungal pathogen can be spread in mud on boots, dirt on equipment, etc. The longer we can keep WNS out of the west, the more time this buys researchers to work on potential prevention or mitigation strategies.

To Learn More About White Nose Syndrome in Bats

Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

US Fish and Wildlife Service