Latest Speleology Stories

Experts warned Congress on Thursday that a mysterious fungus attacking America's bats represents the most serious threat to wildlife in a century and could spread nationwide within years.The condition, known as white-nose syndrome, gets its name from the white fungus speckled amongst the bats, reports the Associated Press.Experts told two House subcommittees on Thursday about discovering caves where bats had been decimated by the disease."One cave there was turned into a morgue, with bats...

A fungus, which has reportedly already killed an estimated 500,000 bats, is causing the U.S. Forest Service to close thousands of caves and former mines in national forests in 33 states in an attempt to control the problem. The problem was first noticed in New York and after two years had spread to caves in both Virginia and West Virginia. 99% of the bats infected have died.While there is no reason to believe the fungus poses a threat to humans, bats have been dying at a startling rate from...

Scientists say they are racing to discover what it is causing a massive die-off of bats in Connecticut before the condition spreads to the U.S. South. As many as 90 percent of Connecticut's bats have died during winter hibernation after being infected by a rare fungus usually only found in Arctic tundra regions, and scientists are working to find a cause before the white-nose syndrome is spread to the large bat populations of the U.S. South, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported Sunday. The...

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife biologists continue to monitor bat hibernacula, the number of sites where bats have been confirmed infected or dying from White Nose Syndrome (WNS) has risen to six. The sites are two abandoned mines near Carbondale, Lackawanna County; an abandoned mine near Shickshinny, Luzerne County; and the abandoned Shindle Iron Mine, Aitkin Cave and Seawra Cave in Mifflin County. "We continue to receive...

Stricken bats die in and around their hibernation quarters at two abandoned mines. Game Commission seeks public's help in identifying other sites. HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was written by Joe Kosack, Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist, Pennsylvania Game Commission: Several hundred little brown bats are dead from White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) in Lackawanna County, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking to residents for help uncovering...

A nasty fungus is killing hundreds of thousands of bats in the northeastern United States, scientists said Thursday. The previously unknown fungus thrives in chilly temperatures. It's a white, powdery-looking organism found on the muzzles, ears and wings of dead and dying bats hibernating in caves in New York, Maine, Vermont and Connecticut. The study was published in the journal Nature. "Essentially, hibernating bats are getting moldy as they hang from their cave ceiling," David...

Wildlife biologists say they are trying to learn why bats in the Northeast United States are dying of what's being called white-nose syndrome. Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection biologists Jenny Dickson, Geoff Krukar and Christina Kocer say an unknown force has been driving bats to leave their caves earlier than normal in winter, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported Sunday. The animals then begin to starve as cold temperatures keep away their main food supply:...