Deadly Fungus Kills off Thousands of Bats at Hanford Site

At first glance, you might wonder why the bats are so important to the ecosystem, but they are. (image from WDFW -Merlin Tuttle.org)

   Deadly fungus kills off thousands of bats who  live at the Hanford site

According to wildlife officials, white-nose syndrome, or the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, was first detected in WA state in 2016 on the west side and has since spread to Eastern WA.

The fungus affects the wings and skin of bats, making it difficult for them to fly, and often causing them to leave hibernation too early. This causes them to deplete their fat storage too early, and the result is they often starve to death or die from lack of water.

The affected bats are called Yuma myotis, they're smaller furry brown bats that look different from the typical bat seen in the SE WA region.

 During cleanup at Hanford in 2006 and then a few years later at the D and F reactor sites, large colonies of these bats were found in what is called clearwells, or water storage tanks that were part of the reactors. Clean radiation-free water was stored there.

Because of the bat population, the clearwells were left alone. Last year, white-nose syndrome was detected in one of the clearwells, and now officials say as many as 1,000 bats are estimated to have possibly died. A total of about 3,500 were believed to be living in the two reactor sites.

It is not known where they go during the winter, some of them do remain.

According to Yahoo News:

"Bats are valuable members of the ecosystem, with a single colony of bats able to consume tons of insects, according to the Fish and Wildlife Department. It says bats save U.S. farmers more than $3 billion a year in pest control costs.

Benton County is one of nine counties in Washington with confirmed cases of white nose syndrome and the farthest east. The fungus that cause the disease has been found in 13 additional counties."