United States: In the past 20 years, a disease caused by the fungus white-nose syndrome (WNS) has become fatal for bats in the US, and hundreds of thousands of bats of many species have died from it.
This particular infection has made it possible for the long-eared, little brown, and tri-colored bat species to lose 90 percent of their population in North America, which was once alive.
Even worse, it has been pointed out that the decline of the bat population has been correlated to the death of thousands of human babies.
According to new research, while the bat population was reduced, its usage of chemical pesticides on farms in North America skyrocketed, although it is yet within the regulatory limits.
According to the study author, “I found that the internal infant mortality rate (IIMR) increased in the years after WNS detection.” For instance, “When farmers increased their use of pesticides, the infant mortality rate rose by almost 8 percent. This corresponds to an additional 1,334 infant deaths. Or, for every 1 percent increase in pesticides, there was a 0.25 percent increase in the infant mortality rate,” zmescience.com reported.
Usage of chemical pesticides in the US
Bats eat insects that affect crops; thus, they can be described as natural insect pesticides. Therefore, for many years, farmers in North America used bats to control the pests on their farms, thus reducing the use of chemical pesticides.
Nevertheless, the situation was that by the year 2006, a WNS appeared, and since then, the population of bats began to decline.
In return, farmers apply increasing amounts of pesticides in areas where bat populations are decreasing. Several researchers agree that these chemicals in pesticides end up in the food we eat and the drinking water we take.
More about white-nose syndrome
Insectivorous bats that hibernate in the dark, cold caves may be exposed to Pseudogymnoascus destructans. This pathogen begins on the wings and muzzles of the bats, and this makes the bats stay awake and develop emaciation, a state where they lose their fat and energy stored in hibernation.
The infection worsens on the bats, especially around the nasal region, which causes a white fuzz – thus, the name. This disrupts the hibernation and wake / sleep pattern of these bats and makes them wake up much more frequently.
Thus, they spend up their fat allowances early enough. When they wake up from hibernation, they are lethargic with minimal energy, and they are hungry.
According to Onathan Reichard, assistant national white-nose syndrome coordinator at the US Fish & Wildlife Service, “Having a variety of tools gives us opportunities to work on multiple scenarios. However, the dream treatment would be something that can be used in almost any situation and benefits bats for years after a single application,” zmescience.com reported.