What does it mean that more than a million bats have been killed
by White-nose Syndrome, that entire populations have been
virtually wiped out, that extinctions are likely if solutions
are not found? Clearly, losing these bats will have enormous
impacts on ecosystems around the continent. But there is another
cost – an often-crushing emotional toll on those who do battle
with this unprecedented disaster day after day. These scientists
and wildlife managers, many of whom have devoted a lifetime to
studying and protecting these remarkable creatures, watch with
broken hearts as an unimaginable plague spreads across North
America. Yet somehow, they still get up every morning and rejoin
the fight. And White-nose Syndrome keeps moving faster and
farther each winter. “Many of these bats that are dying, they’re
like old friends,” says Professor Tom Kunz of Boston University,
who has studied New England bats since 1964. “I have studied
them and watched them for years. I banded a lot of them.
Standing there [amid count