SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. – Nearly 30 people gathered Wednesday evening outside a cave situated on Nickajack Lake. Some sat in boats with their backs to the cave’s opening; others crowded the cliff line with their legs hanging high above the water.
Among them were representatives from the Tennessee Valley Authority and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency – both of which operate the cave. They had gathered to count federally endangered bats that call the cave home.
Gray bats are found in 13 states, all in the Southeast or Midwest but mainly in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri. They are endangered largely because they live in very large numbers in only a few caves, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As a result, they are vulnerable to disturbances by humans.
TWRA and TVA officials have been doing the annual count since the 1980s when they gated the cave to protect the endangered species. They are federally mandated to monitor and protect the bat population, as they are with all the endangered species on their properties.
“As far as counting, monitoring bats is important because they’re important to our ecosystem,” TWRA wildlife manager Daniel Istvanko said. “It’s also a really easy way to assess the population, especially when you have a big population like this in one place.”