The discovery of deadly white-nose syndrome in a bat in Washington State has raised alarm bells in Alberta, including in the mountain national parks where researchers recently stumbled across the first known bat hibernacula in Banff.
White-nose syndrome has wiped out millions of bats in the eastern United States and five eastern Canadian provinces, but the fungal disease had not been detected in the west until last month when a little brown bat was found on the ground by a hiker near the Cascade Mountains.
Bat expert Robert Barclay, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Calgary, said he’s been on a number of emergency calls since the bat was discovered near North Bend, about 50 kilometres east of Seattle in March.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns, including where the bat came from, because it was found on the ground and not near any known hibernation sites. The sense is if there’s one, then there’s more than one,” said Barclay.
“If we assume the fungus and disease is now on the west coast, obviously it’s much closer to Alberta. It was halfway across the continent coming from the east, but I figured we had five to 10 years before it hit Alberta and now this shortens up the time frame considerably.”
White-nose syndrome, a fungus introduced from Europe, was first discovered in a cave in New York State in 2006 and detected in Canada a few years later. In the last decade, the disease has killed off an estimated seven million bats and its spread is expected to continue.
Alarmingly, it can kill off 100 per cent of bats in a colony during hibernation.
The deadly fungus grows on noses, wings and ears of bats during winter hibernation, giving them a white, fuzzy appearance. The fungus invades deep skin tissue and causes extensive damage.
Affected bats arouse more often than usual during hibernation, which causes them to burn up crucial fat reserves needed to sustain them through hibernation, leading to starvation and death.
To date, seven North America bats species have been afflicted by the disease, including little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, eastern small-footed bat, Indiana bat, gray bat, tri-coloured bat and big brown bat.
“There’s concern this disease is going to lead to the extinction of some bat species,” said Barclay, noting Canada has three endangered bat species, two of which are found in Alberta.
In Banff and Yoho national parks, Parks Canada has already begun a program to monitor bats, setting up stationary recording equipment at several backcountry and front country locations, as well as roaming roadways in vehicles with recording devices.
By identifying bats through their calls, staff hope to get a better handle on bat distribution and abundance, with an emphasis on finding hibernacula and maternity roosting sites where females have their young.
They also plan to start monitoring for bats in Kootenay National Park this year.
Last December, park researchers found the first known bat hibernacula in Banff National Park in a cave along the Icefields Parkway. It’s believed the bats are endangered little brown myotis.
Alan Dibb, a Parks Canada wildlife biologist, said news that white-nose syndrome was found in a bat in Washington State is really “quite shocking.
“Personally, it was a shock to hear this as most of us did think we would have a little bit more time before it showed up this far west in North America,” he said.
“We’re really just starting to get some of the information we need to be able to effectively manage the bats in our parks.”
There are nine species of bats in Alberta, while British Columbia has the greatest bat diversity in the country, being home to 16 species.
Dibb said Parks Canada is aware of seven bat species in Banff and Yoho – the endangered little brown bat, silver-haired bat, hoary bat, long-legged bat, long-eared bat, big brown bat and eastern red bat.
He said it is still very early days in the monitoring program and, while they are aware of some bat locations, there’s a good chance they will discover more with continued research.
“With white-nose syndrome, that means we’re going to need to be in a position to manage bats in the future,” he said.
“In order to do that, we need to know which species occur, and where, if they hibernate, where important roosting sites are and where the sites are that may be susceptible to white-nose syndrome should it occur in our area.”
The fungus associated with white-nose syndrome is believed to spread primarily by bat-to-bat contact.
However, people can carry fungal spores on their clothing, shoes, or caving gear and appropriate decontamination is critical to reduce the risk of spreading this catastrophic bat disease.
Dibb said potential bat locations in the national parks are already well protected, noting people are not allowed to enter caves or abandoned mine shafts in Banff, Yoho or Kootenay without a permit from the park superintendent.
“We do have fairly stringent access restrictions right now because everyone who wants to go into a cave has to have the superintendent’s permission,” he said.
“What I understand is if white-nose syndrome was to show up in the region, Parks Canada would take another look at its cave access protocols.”
Barclay said he believes Alberta and British Columbia have done a good job in trying to minimize the risk of human movement of the fungus, noting provincial governments have closed some known hibernation sites.
But, he said, very little is known about bat movements, which is a concern given the fungus is primarily spread from bat to bat.
“We don’t know how easily it will cross the Rockies because we don’t know how many bats move back and forth and whether there are connections between populations on the east side and west side,” said Barclay.
“We need to know how much movement there is both within the province and also from B.C. to Alberta, because that may help us get an estimate on when the fungus is likely to get here. I think it’s a matter of when, not if.”
White-nose syndrome does not affect all bat species, and scientists don’t know why that is.
Barclay said Alberta is home to some bat species not found in eastern Canada, such as the long-eared bat in the southern part of the province and the western small-footed bat on the prairies.
“There’s a number of other species which don’t occur in eastern North America and we do know they hibernate,” he said. “I think the assumption is these species will be susceptible to the disease.”
Bats also appear to use a different hibernation system here compared to the east, said Barclay.
“Out east there are huge caves and mines with thousands of individuals. Here, bats, as far as we can tell, are in much smaller groups and in smaller places,” he said.
“There’s still so much we don’t know and I’d say that’s the major problem and now we have much less time to figure it out.”
Bats, which eat their own body weight in mosquitos and other insects at night, are considered valuable to ecosystems around the world and save farmers in North America billions of dollars annually in insect control.
Many species of bats are also valuable for pollination of plants and dispersal of plant seeds.
“They provide an important ecological service,” said Barclay.
Barclay said the fact that bats are slow reproducers is a major concern.
“They produce one baby a year, and if these populations decline rapidly it takes a long time to build them back up,” he said. “It’s not as if they’ll bounce back in a few years. It will take decades.”
Parks Canada asks members of the public to report bat sightings, particularly any unusual bat behaviour such as flying in daylight hours or activity during winter. The number to call is 403-762-1470.
