Northern long-eared bat to be protected under Endangered Species Act

The northern long eared bat
The northern long eared bat
photo The northern long eared bat

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it will protect the threatened northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act. The northern long-eared is one of several bat populations that have been threatened by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease found in caves.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said protecting bat populations is of critical importance to humans because they prey on insects that destroy crops.

"Bats are a critical component of our nation's ecology and economy, maintaining a fragile insect predator-prey balance; we lose them at our peril," he said.

In the United States, the northern long-eared bat is found from Maine to North Carolina on the east coast, westward to eastern Oklahoma and north through the Dakotas, and eastern Montana and Wyoming.

The Fish and Wildlife Service initially nominated the northern long-eared bat receive an "endangered" designation in October 2013 due to severe population declines and disappearance from traditional hibernation sites. During a review, the designation was changed to "threatened." Under the Endangered Species Act, a species is in imminent danger of becoming extinct, while a threatened species is likely to become endangered in the future.

The designation takes effect May 4.

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