More than 400 endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration’s decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades. According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era “roadless rule” could put 7.4m acres (3m hectares) of endangered-species habitat and nearly […]
Tag: northern long-eared bat
Killer fungus: how a disease threatening bat species has spread to northern Canada
Crawling through a narrow passage in a cave beneath a boreal forest near Fort Smith in Canada’s Northwest Territories in May, two biologists spotted a lifeless bat on a limestone ledge, its body covered in a spindly white fungus. When they shone their headlamps to get a closer look, they saw another bat with the […]
Bats Are Recovering in a Big Way After Decimation by White-Nose Syndrome: Numbers Grow for the 3rd Year
In a positive development for a maligned animal, cave-roosting bat populations in Wisconsin are recovering from a fungal epidemic. Wildlife authorities are reporting that for the third year in a row, the state’s bat populations seem to be rising. Numbers of little brown bats, big brown bats, tricolored bats, and northern long-eared bats are estimated […]
House GOP Accused of ‘Waging War on America’s Wildlife’ With Proposed Spending Cuts
As Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives begin work on spending legislation for fiscal year 2026, conservationists and congressional Democrats are blasting a key appropriations bill released Monday. “House Republicans are once again waging war on America’s wildlife in yet another giveaway to their industry allies,” said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs […]
Trump officials plan to destroy a critical government program they probably know nothing about
Nearly two decades ago, scientists made an alarming discovery in upstate New York: Bats, the world’s only flying mammal, were becoming infected with a new, deadly fungal disease that, in some cases, could wipe out an entire colony in a matter of months. Since then, the disease — later called white-nose syndrome — has spread […]
Fungus among us
More bad news for bats, I’m afraid—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed that white-nose syndrome (WNS) has now spread to the endangered gray bat. The fungus, which has devastated large populations of North American bats, was detected in Tennessee gray bats although biologists did not find evidence that it had killed any animals […]