NEW YORK -- Disease has killed more than 90 percent of some bat
populations in Northeastern states, according to a survey
released yesterday by the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation. The DEC survey in New York,
Connecticut and Vermont examined 23 caves that are believed to
have once been home to more than 55,000 bats, roughly 10 percent
of the regional bat population. The culprit is "white-nose
syndrome," an ailment named for a white fungus found on
afflicted bats. DEC researchers found that populations of the
most common regional species, the brown bat, had declined 93
percent on average. A separate survey of an endangered species,
the Indiana bat, showed it had declined 53 percent on average,
researchers reported. Allen Hicks, the New York agency's bat
expert, said colder and drier areas preferred by the Indiana bat
may be helping it to avoid a fate as severe as that affecting
the little brown bat. The state report says a population of
Indiana bats found hibernating in a warmer and wet