Some Tennessee bats adapting to white-nose syndrome, others continue declining

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On this Friday the 13th, spooky creatures like bats may come to mind. But, bats have had plenty to fear themselves in the past 15 years. A disease called white-nose syndrome has almost wiped out entire species in Tennessee. But, at least one type of bat is making an exciting comeback.

With its 12,000 caves, Tennessee is a bat’s paradise.

“More caves than any other state. Really special in that regard,” said Dustin Thames, Region 2 biodiversity coordinator, TWRA.

And Thames says those caves are starting to come alive again as some species like tricolored bats are making a comeback.

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“We think tricolored bat populations have increased about 20% over the past three years. So it is an incredible increase,” said Thames. “For tricolored bats, we are cautiously optimistic. I think they are going to recover pretty well.”

But it wasn’t always looking promising for the bats. In 2009, a fungal pathogen called white-nose syndrome first hit bats in the Northeast and spread here to Tennessee.

“At the time, it was totally new to science. The microbiologists looking at it were like, ‘We have no idea what this is.'”

At the time, it was quite a mystery. Bats were developing a white fungus on their nose. When bats were supposed to be quietly hibernating for the winter in caves, that uncomfortable fungus would spread to other parts of their body, and wake them from their slumber in the middle of winter when there’s no food.

“White-nose syndrome was sort of the perfect storm…they’re helpless in the cave when they are hibernating,” said Thames.”Cause dehydration and some other physiological effects…it was a really critical situation for tricolored bats during the decline.

Indiana bats and Little brown bats also saw massive population declines of 80% and 90%. And Northern Long-eared bats may not ever recover.

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White-nose syndrome isn’t going away. But Thames says that by adapting, the tricolor bats are starting to successfully emerge on the other side of this now endemic disease. “They are really good with dealing with diseases.”

Where does white-nose syndrome come from? It’s believed a European cave explorer visiting the Northeastern U.S. brought the pathogen into a cave on their boots and it spread to bats from there.

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