Mysterious cases of white-nose syndrome plague thousands of bats each year, frosting their snouts in toxic, white fungus. But researchers are fighting back against the dark reality—with light. A new study, published January 2 in the journal Nature Communications, shows that ultraviolet rays, the light source behind black lights and sunburns, irreparably break down the […]
A deadly invasive fungus has been wiping out hibernating bats for years in the U.S., eating away at their wings and muzzles. But it’s been unclear exactly how the interloper kills its victims, making efforts to save infected bats take a bit of guesswork. Now, a recent study has cracked the mystery. White-nose syndrome—so called […]
A fungus that leads to a deadly disease that has killed almost seven million bats in the US is continuing its spread westwards, results have shown. Officials said the disease had been confirmed in Arkansas after samples tested positive for the fungus known to cause white-nose syndrome (WNS). To date, there is no known vaccine […]
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 […]
