WATCH ABOVE: A disease that’s already killed 6 million bats across North America is predicted to arrive in BC within 10 years. Kylie Stanton has the story.
VANCOUVER – Bats are shortlisted to become at risk in B.C.
A disease called the white-nose syndrome has already killed more than six million bats across North America and now environmentalists are concerned that it could affect our bats here in B.C.
White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease. It first appeared in 2006 in the New York area and has since spread across twenty states and five Canadian provinces.
“If they were to get white-nose disease in this region it could very probably spread to the rest of British Columbia putting our bat population at great risk,” said Erin Rutherford from the South Coast Bat Rescue Team.
“One of the ways that we can best help protect bats from the onslaught of white-nose syndrome is to make sure they they have a great diversity of habitat and that they have places to live.”
Bats are a key part in the ecosystem, balancing the insect population by eating up to 400 mosquitoes an hour.
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