The Northern Long-eared bat is now a protected animal under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the move on Wednesday, saying the designation will come with a special interim rule aimed at relieving regulatory burdens on local land owners and government agencies in the bat's range.
The feds first proposed protecting Northern Long-eared bats in October 2013. The move was prompted by a massive outbreak of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that spreads inside caves and impacts hibernating bats.
White-nose syndrome was first identified in New York in 2006. It spread to Connecticut two years later, and today, can be found in caves as far south as Mississippi.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the disease has culled some bat populations in the northeast have by as much as 99 percent.
"In making this decision, we reviewed the best available scientific information on the Northern Long-eared bat, including information gathered from more than 100,000 public comments," said the Service’s Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius in a news release. "We are listing this species because a disease – white-nose syndrome – is spreading and decimating its populations."
The listing means the animals will be afforded more protections and that conservation efforts to understand white-nose syndrome and its impact on bats will be stepped up. It also comes with a special rule that will allow bats to be removed from human structures for things like utility right-of-way projects or forest management practices.
