Save Pennsylvania Bats

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) recently issued an Order to PA wildlife rehabilitators titled "White Nose Syndrome Response Bat Rehabilitation Ban." This ban is in response to White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a poorly understood malady associated with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of bats in the Northeast, and perhaps the greatest threat to North American wild bat populations in recorded history. This ban cites the state focus on surveillance and containment of WNS, and prohibits the rehabilitation of bats within any county in PA for the remainder of 2009. Further, wildlife rehabilitators will not be permitted to accept any cave or tree bat until further notice and no bats of any species are allowed to be released into the environment.

Additionally, this ban calls for the euthanization of all incoming bats, regardless of species or age class, and the subsequent submission of deceased specimens to the PGC. A conservative estimate for the cost involved in humanely euthanizing a bat and appropriately packaging the specimen for overnight shipping to the PCG is approximately $70.00 per animal. There is no provision in this ban to provide any funds to rehabilitators for the costs associated with this directive. Wildlife rehabilitators provide a voluntary service for the State of PA and operate their facilities out of their own funds. As many as 50 bats per year per rehabilitator can be expected to be received from the public. Accordingly, this ban will cost each rehabilitator a conservatively estimated $420.00 during 2009. The PGC cannot legally require bat rehabilitators in the state of PA to absorb the cost of killing the animals they were formerly permitted to save.

Article I of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Natural Resources and the Public Estate, Section 27, states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

Additionally:
-Of the eight states confirming the presence of WNS, Pennsylvania is the only state to mandate an order to kill all bats coming into rehabilitation.

-WNS is known to affect only five of the nine bat species located in PA. For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing animal on earth. The indiscriminate killing of tree bats, orphaned young, and species never known to contract WNS will only expand population losses at a time when the conservation of all bats is absolutely critical.

-This ban is in direct opposition to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently published document titled Protocol for Wildlife Rehabilitator Response to White Nose Syndrome Affected Bats in the Northeastern United States: http://www.batworld.org/worldbatline/pdf_files/WNS-BWNOVAUSFWS.pdf

-The Indiana bat, a federally endangered bat that also resides in PA is in direct peril because of this ban.

-This ban jeopardizes human health by leaving citizens who find bats with no avenue for help, as they are now asked to leave injured, sick or dying bats in public places or dispose of the still-living animal, allowing it to suffer needlessly.

-This ban has high potential to encourage an underground wherein citizens attempt to care for bats themselves, thereby risking exposure to rabies.

- The agency which the public is being directed to contact when bats are found is closed during evening and weekends. Consequently there is limited or no access to information and/or help with found bats for the public. Further, the public is being told to go to the internet for updated information; however, many low income residents of large cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh do not have access to computers but will readily call a local wildlife rehabilitator.

-Scientific justification for this ban is inadequate.

-In fact recent media reports suggest that cavers are as likely to be moving WNS as bats themselves, yet no moratorium on caving in PA has been put in place. (Are cavers spreading lethal bat disease? New Scientist, March 22, 2009).

-Since the fungus was identified in October 2008, evidence is mounting that the fungus is the causative agent, not any underlying disease or environmental mechanism.

-David Blehert, head of microbiology at the U.S. Geological Survey's Wildlife Health Center who identified the white-nose fungus, is suggesting that the fungus does not survive on bats during the summer, and that if a bat survives hibernation, it would have the capability to clear the infection. (Neighbor News, Mar 4, 2009). Blehert also stated that summer spreading is not a concern. (Charlston Daily Mail, March 5, 2009).

-Scientists directly involved with WNS believe the condition is a cave contaminant, not a bat contaminant. Therefore, destroying bats in the state of PA does nothing to stop the spread of WNS. ("Even if you got rid of the bats, the fungus would remain," Blehert, Atlantic City Press, Mar. 2, 2009)

-There is no evidence that tree bats are involved with the spread of WNS. In fact researchers have expressed doubt that tree bats play any role at all in WNS transmission. In the absence of any real evidence, it seems unsupportable to euthanize releasable bats of species that are already under duress from wind turbines, car strikes, and habitat loss.

Bats are the cornerstone of a healthy environment and are essential to the economic and agricultural industry of Pennsylvania. In the face of the largest catastrophe to ever hit US wild bat populations, a ban that further promotes their destruction cannot be justified on any level. Therefore, we, the undersigned, vehemently oppose this ban and formally request a reversal of White Nose Syndrome Response Bat Rehabilitation Ban by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

For more information about WNS please visit link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlOehbW2V5I

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) recently issued an Order to PA wildlife rehabilitators titled "White Nose Syndrome Response Bat Rehabilitation Ban." This ban is in response to White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a poorly understood malady associated with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of bats in the Northeast, and perhaps the greatest threat to North American wild bat populations in recorded history. This ban cites the state focus on surveillance and containment of WNS, and prohibits the rehabilitation of bats within any county in PA for the remainder of 2009. Further, wildlife rehabilitators will not be permitted to accept any cave or tree bat until further notice and no bats of any species are allowed to be released into the environment.

Additionally, this ban calls for the euthanization of all incoming bats, regardless of species or age class, and the subsequent submission of deceased specimens to the PGC. A conservative estimate for the cost involved in humanely euthanizing a bat and appropriately packaging the specimen for overnight shipping to the PCG is approximately $70.00 per animal. There is no provision in this ban to provide any funds to rehabilitators for the costs associated with this directive. Wildlife rehabilitators provide a voluntary service for the State of PA and operate their facilities out of their own funds. As many as 50 bats per year per rehabilitator can be expected to be received from the public. Accordingly, this ban will cost each rehabilitator a conservatively estimated $420.00 during 2009. The PGC cannot legally require bat rehabilitators in the state of PA to absorb the cost of killing the animals they were formerly permitted to save.

Article I of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Natural Resources and the Public Estate, Section 27, states: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

Additionally:
-Of the eight states confirming the presence of WNS, Pennsylvania is the only state to mandate an order to kill all bats coming into rehabilitation.

-WNS is known to affect only five of the nine bat species located in PA. For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing animal on earth. The indiscriminate killing of tree bats, orphaned young, and species never known to contract WNS will only expand population losses at a time when the conservation of all bats is absolutely critical.

-This ban is in direct opposition to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently published document titled Protocol for Wildlife Rehabilitator Response to White Nose Syndrome Affected Bats in the Northeastern United States: http://www.batworld.org/worldbatline/pdf_files/WNS-BWNOVAUSFWS.pdf

-The Indiana bat, a federally endangered bat that also resides in PA is in direct peril because of this ban.

-This ban jeopardizes human health by leaving citizens who find bats with no avenue for help, as they are now asked to leave injured, sick or dying bats in public places or dispose of the still-living animal, allowing it to suffer needlessly.

-This ban has high potential to encourage an underground wherein citizens attempt to care for bats themselves, thereby risking exposure to rabies.

- The agency which the public is being directed to contact when bats are found is closed during evening and weekends. Consequently there is limited or no access to information and/or help with found bats for the public. Further, the public is being told to go to the internet for updated information; however, many low income residents of large cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh do not have access to computers but will readily call a local wildlife rehabilitator.

-Scientific justification for this ban is inadequate.

-In fact recent media reports suggest that cavers are as likely to be moving WNS as bats themselves, yet no moratorium on caving in PA has been put in place. (Are cavers spreading lethal bat disease? New Scientist, March 22, 2009).

-Since the fungus was identified in October 2008, evidence is mounting that the fungus is the causative agent, not any underlying disease or environmental mechanism.

-David Blehert, head of microbiology at the U.S. Geological Survey's Wildlife Health Center who identified the white-nose fungus, is suggesting that the fungus does not survive on bats during the summer, and that if a bat survives hibernation, it would have the capability to clear the infection. (Neighbor News, Mar 4, 2009). Blehert also stated that summer spreading is not a concern. (Charlston Daily Mail, March 5, 2009).

-Scientists directly involved with WNS believe the condition is a cave contaminant, not a bat contaminant. Therefore, destroying bats in the state of PA does nothing to stop the spread of WNS. ("Even if you got rid of the bats, the fungus would remain," Blehert, Atlantic City Press, Mar. 2, 2009)

-There is no evidence that tree bats are involved with the spread of WNS. In fact researchers have expressed doubt that tree bats play any role at all in WNS transmission. In the absence of any real evidence, it seems unsupportable to euthanize releasable bats of species that are already under duress from wind turbines, car strikes, and habitat loss.

Bats are the cornerstone of a healthy environment and are essential to the economic and agricultural industry of Pennsylvania. In the face of the largest catastrophe to ever hit US wild bat populations, a ban that further promotes their destruction cannot be justified on any level. Therefore, we, the undersigned, vehemently oppose this ban and formally request a reversal of White Nose Syndrome Response Bat Rehabilitation Ban by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

For more information about WNS please visit link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlOehbW2V5I

As a concerned citizen I urge you to lift the Bat Rehabilitation Banned, and help protect endangered species native to Pennsylvania. With the banned in effect and the order to euthanize healthy bats, it's only furthering the struggle of many species. Extinction is around the corner for some native crevice dwelling species. The protection of the native Indiana, Little Brown, and Eastern Pipistrelle bats is vital to the environment considering each bat consumes it's body weight in insects every night.

In early June, scientists and biologists researching WNS met with Congress to discuss and urge the house of representatives to help aid in further research of the mysterious disease. But help has a deeper impact when each state affected protects these vulnerable species. Needlessly killing bats is not going to stop the spread of WNS, but will help lead many species to extinction.

According to the Agriculture Department, bats eat pests that otherwise would cost farmers up to $1 billion a year in damages. Without bats protecting the night skies, who is going to pay for these damages to local produce farms? Bat rehabilitation focusing on the rescue, rehabilitation and release of native insectivorous bats. Rehabilitators do not release injured, or sick bats into wild. Bats that are released must be 100% healthy, sustain flight, and forage on their own to guarantee survival aside of natural elements. 

I strongly urge you to support bat rehabilitation, as this may be the only hope for bats. A bat rehabilitator in New Jersey has been given the chance to use her knowledge to create a specific protocol for White Nose Syndrome. This protocol has been used by many bat rehabilitators throughout WNS affected states, and has been declared successful. This is a huge development and possibly a first in allowing rehabilitators to take the lead in medical management of a wildlife disease. One of many things bat rehabilitators benefit from is that their knowledge and experience is learned case by case. This gives them the advantage to help in ways that scientists, and biologists cannot. Research and Rehabilitation go hand and hand, without one we would not have the other. Banning bat rehabilitation is banning further progress in helping the rapid decline of bats.

Of the eight states confirming the presence of WNS, Pennsylvania is the only state to mandate an order to kill all bats coming into rehabilitation.
WNS is known to affect only five of the nine bat species located in PA. For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing animal on earth only giving birth to one pup each year. The indiscriminate killing of tree bats, orphaned young, and species never known to contract WNS will only expand population losses at a time when the conservation of all bats is absolutely critical. I urge you to please take into consideration the hundreds of lives being lost, and taken as a direct result to the rehabilitation banned. Please stop the bat rehabilitation banned, and take steps toward the conservation of all species of bats in Pennsylvania we need to take extra precautions to save species from extinction before it's to late.

Therefore, we, the undersigned, vehemently oppose this ban and formally request a reversal of White Nose Syndrome Response%u2014Bat Rehabilitation Ban by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.