Wild New Jersey Exclusive: Senator Lautenberg calls for bat disease survey urgency
Bats being tagged in an effort to better understand the spread of white-nose syndrome.
Photo courtesy of David Wheeler, Wild New Jersey
U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) released the following statement in response to a survey conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that revealed a steep decline in bat populations: “These devastating survey results affirm the urgent need to move forward with research to protect the bat populations in New York, New Jersey and throughout the northeast region," stated Sen. Lautenberg, who recently secured $1.9 million in federal funding for White Nose Syndrome research. “I fought hard to secure almost $2 million in funding to research and protect bat populations and will continue working to provide scientists with the resources they need to understand this deadly disease.”
White-nose, named for the smudges of fungus on the noses and wings of hibernating bats, is estimated to have killed more than a million bats in nine states since it was first noticed in a cluster of caves in upstate New York in 2006. Caves and mines littered with bat carcasses have become a common wintertime sight since then. But the survey released Wednesday by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation quantifies just how deadly white-nose can be for individual bat species.
"It really raises a question as to whether they can sustain this or not, and how long it will be before they disappear if this trend continues," said Al Hicks, a state wildlife biologist. While the new survey covered just a percentage of the caves with white nose in a selected area, Hicks said there's no reason to believe decline rates would be different at affected caves elsewhere. "We are the Ghost of Christmas Future for other states," he said.
Information from Associated Press was used in this story.
Click here to read the previous articles on white-nose syndrome:
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 12/24/2009 7:00 AM 
Categories: WNJ Exclusives,Bats
Tags: federal funding fungus white nose syndrome Lautenberg caves 1.9 million
Categories: WNJ Exclusives,Bats
Tags: federal funding fungus white nose syndrome Lautenberg caves 1.9 million
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