In a Dec. 16, 2011 photograph, a little brown bat is swabbed during a white nose syndrome study at New Mammoth Cave near LaFollette, Tenn. (AP Photo/Amy Smotherman Burgess, Knoxville News Sentinel)The confirmation of white-nose syndrome in endangered gray bats in upper East Tennessee is “great cause for concern,” officials say.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in very rare bats that wintered in caves in Hawkins and Montgomery counties.
“The documented spread of [white-nose syndrome] on gray bats is devastating news,” said Paul McKenzie, a Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species coordinator, in a prepared statement. “This species was well on the road to recovery, and confirmation of the disease is great cause for concern.”
White-nose syndrome previously had been documented in six hibernating bat species, including the federally endangered Indiana bat.
Significant mortality has been documented in many colonies of hibernating Indiana bats in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.