Deadly bat disease detected for the first time in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains
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a deadly fungus which is destroyed bat population Alberta continues to spread throughout North America.
White-nose syndrome has been detected for the first time in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, indicating significant spread of the devastating disease since it was first confirmed in the province in 2024.
According to the , more than 6.7 million bats in North America have died after becoming infected since 2006. Center for Biological Diversity.
This disease is caused by a fungus that infects the skin of mammals during hibernation. Rather than killing bats outright, the disease forces the bats to awaken from hibernation, leading to starvation, dehydration, and ultimately death.
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome was first detected in Alberta in 2022. The symptoms of the disease were confirmed by the province two years later.
Evidence of white-nose syndrome was found in three caves in the Rockies during surveys this year by the provincial government and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada.
It includes the Camoodin and Wapiabi Caves, located in central Alberta. Both caves were once popular with cavers. closed to public since 2010 by the provincial government in an effort to prevent white-nose syndrome from infecting bats hibernating there.
To discourage travel, the researchers say the location of the third cave will not be disclosed.
“This is not good news,” said Lisa Wilkinson, provincial bat specialist for Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.
Last year, a population survey in Alberta bat habitat estimated the population had declined by 80 per cent.
“In eastern North America, where they have larger caves and have been able to do pretty good counts, they found population declines of 90 percent, 95 percent or more. So, it’s not surprising,” Wilkinson said.
White-nose syndrome has infected bats in every Canadian province except British Columbia, where the fungus that causes the disease has been found, but not in any bat population. The disease has also infected bats in at least 40 US states.
Detecting symptoms of white nose syndrome in bat populations is a significant development compared to simply finding traces of the fungus.
“At low levels, the fungus does not trigger disease. We have not seen any negative effects, but obviously, over the last year, the fungus has increased and spread, and now it is definitely affecting bats and causing white-nose syndrome,” Wilkinson said.
“And to be honest, I didn’t expect it to be this bad. So, it was a bit of a surprise, and it’s a very hard thing to see as a biologist, right? You care about the species you’re studying.”
Look Alberta is using probiotics in an effort to save declining bat populations:
The province is using a new probiotic in an effort to stop a fungal disease that has killed millions of bats across North America. (Photo credit: Jason Hadley)
Last year, the province began using probiotic treatments, which are applied through spraying to bats’ homes during the summer.
That bacterial cocktail has shown promising results so far, including low amounts of fungus detected on bats, as well as evidence of bats spreading the probiotic among each other.
“We can’t stop the disease, the fungus, from spreading, or destroy it, or cure the disease on any kind of large scale,” Wilkinson said. “So, all efforts to help reduce the impact of this disease are on a small scale.”
The province will continue its probiotic applications this year and capture bats to assess their health status.
2 bats in danger due to disease
There are nine species of bats in Alberta. Three that migrate south for the winter are not thought to be susceptible to white-nose syndrome, while six hibernate in the province. This includes the little brown bat and the northern myotis, both of which are considered endangered by the federal government.
“Any bat that hibernates … will be vulnerable to this disease,” Wilkinson said. “So, we expect all of those to be coming in the fall.”
Wilkinson acknowledged that complete eradication of the disease is impossible, but that does not mean there is no hope.
“If we can get a few more bats to survive the hibernation period without developing disease and come back to breed, we will help reduce the impact of this disease and population decline,” he said.
getting help from the public
Corey Olson, coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Alberta Community Bat Programsays the public also has a role to play in helping conserve the province’s bats.
For example, landowners can report bat habitat on their property to help scientists and conservationists better understand the province’s bat populations.
Cadomin Cave is the largest known hibernaculum in Alberta. The cave has been closed to the public for more than a decade, but once a year a small team of researchers goes inside to complete a census of the bats hibernating inside. The annual bat count is considered even more important as a deadly fungus called white-nose syndrome threatens bat populations across Canada.
People can also submit bat guano (feces) to the Alberta Community Bat Program, which will have it tested in a laboratory to confirm the bat species.
“We get this really useful information that we can use to monitor bats, which is really important now because we’re losing bats to white nose syndrome,” Olson said. “And it’s also a very valuable source of information when we want to reach out to people to see if we can use (those areas) as potential sites for treatment of this disease.”
The foundation of those efforts is to give bats a much-needed PR boost, Olson said.
“We need people who appreciate bats and want to keep them in their community,” he said. “One of our goals was to spread the message about bats – to dispel some of the myths people have that make them resistant to helping these animals.”
