Northern long-eared bats earn 'threatened' status

A dramatic decline in the northern long-eared bat (FWS photo) population due to millions of deaths from white-nose syndrome has earned the species "threatened" status from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
effective May 4, Whitney Forman-Cook reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. The bats are found in 37 states, Washington D.C. and 13 Canadian provinces.

FWS Director Dan Ashe told Forman-Cook, “Bats are a critical component of our nation's ecology and economy, maintaining a fragile predator-prey balance; we lose them at our peril. Without bats, insect populations can rise dramatically, with the potential for devastating losses for our crop farmers and foresters. The alternative to bats is greater pesticide use, which brings with it another set of ecological concerns.” (Read more)