WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) Canada has teamed up with cavers across western Canada in an effort to stop the spread of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) by launching the BatCaver program – www.batcaver.org.

 Bats in North America face catastrophic declines due to a fungal pathogen causing WNS. Since being introduced to North America in 2006, the disease has killed millions of bats and is predicted to have far-reaching and long-term consequences on ecosystems and Canada’s economy. WNS, typified by a white fungus growing on the nose of bats, kills the animals while they hibernate and has spread across eastern North America, with up to 99 percent mortality of bats in any given winter roost.

In western Canada, there are as many as 18 bat species. Scientists know relatively little about where these animals spend the winter and where WNS will hit should it continue its westward spread across the Rocky Mountains. The chief aim of the BatCaver program is to combat the devastating effects of this disease by working directly with the caving community in Western Canada to identify hibernacula and provide surveillance for any signs of the disease.

The program is implemented by cavers who deploy specialized equipment underground that detects bat ultrasound. This will identify important areas where bats hibernate and which species are overwintering. This information in turn will help managers and biologists make decisions about where to focus limited financial resources and what strategies to employ.

 In addition, the program promotes the use of decontamination protocols by cavers to prevent the spread of WNS to B.C. These protocols were written by cavers in BC and Alberta and endorsed by both provincial governments and the Canadian Interagency White Nose Syndrome Committee.

 Cori Lausen, WCS Canada Associate Conservation Scientist, who led the development of BatCaver said, “We’re partnering with the people who know these caves, and who are in the best position to help biologists create and implement critical bat conservation strategies.”

 Bats comprise nearly a quarter of all mammal species on earth and play crucial economic and ecological roles.

 “In Canada, home to at least 20 species, bats provide pest control by consuming up to 100 percent of their body weight in insects each night, many of which are crop and forest pests,” explains Dr. Lausen.

 Bats are long-lived mammals with studies indicating some species have a life span of more than thirty years. Because they reproduce slowly and each female gives birth to only a single pup per year - bat populations are unable to rebound following mass mortality events such as that being caused by WNS.

 Severe ecological impacts associated with the mass mortality of bats in North America are anticipated if the disease continues to spread and kill bats at its current rate. For example, moths upon which bats feed may proliferate considerably, resulting in forest and food crop destruction. In this scenario, food prices are likely to rise as commercial pesticides replace the insect-eating role of bats. A recent estimate of the monetary consequences of projected bat losses in the US indicated this could amount to agricultural losses of at least $3.7 billion and up to $53 billion a year.

“The caving communities in Alberta and BC have been overwhelmingly supportive of helping with bat conservation,” said Dr. Lausen. “The BatCaver program was piloted last year and the response has already been tremendous. Not only are cavers helping us locate bat hibernacula, but they are developing policies to ensure visiting cavers and members of their clubs do not inadvertently spread the disease westward.”

The BatCaver program has been generously supported by the BC Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, BC Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Eden Conservation Trust, Environment Canada, Golder Associates, and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.

 For more information on this story, please contact Justina Ray at 416 850 9038.

To learn more about BatCaver, click here.

To read a blog by Cori Lausen on BatCaver and stopping White Nose Syndrome, click here