Disease wiping out bats in Atlantic Canada hasn't hit Newfoundland, says wildlife expert

A wildlife expert in eastern Newfoundland fears it may just be a matter of time beforea disease that is wiping out bats in other parts of the country reaches this province.

White nose syndrome is killing bats in every other Atlantic province but it has yet tobedetected on the island of Newfoundland.

"In Newfoundland it's not here yet and we don't know if it will arrive or when it will arrive. We are continuing to monitor bats for the disease and so far it has not been detected here," saidBruceRodrigues, ecosystem management ecologist,Wildlife Division.

The disease is believed to have destroyed more than 80 percent of some bat populations on the mainland.

"What happens is awhite fungalgrowth is detected on nose and wings of the bats.In the first year after it is found, about40 per centof bats die by the second year 80 to100 per cent of the bats in the area die," said Rodrigues.

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He says bats play an important partin the food web, and are important to humans too.

"For us, bats playa huge role in the environment. They are insect eaters and their role incontrollinginsect populations is important foragriculture andforestry,"said Rodrigues,who was leading a workshop atSalmonierNature Park over the weekendon how to build bat shelters.

He said a recentU.S. studyestimated white-nose syndrome will forceindustry in the states to spend billions on pesticides to make up for what the bats were eatingeach year. Rodriguessaysbats also play a role in controllinginsect-borne diseases, such as Zikavirus or malaria.

Rodriguessaid it may be a matter of time before bats here become infected with whitenose syndrome.

"It doesn't seem to be limited by latitude or even separation bywater. There might be some protection to Newfoundland because of the water divide but it seems inevitable that this diseasewill show up here at some point," he said.

But Rodrigues says people can play a role in preventing the spread of the bat-killing disease.

"Preventing bat travel is impossiblebut what we can try to mitigate is human spread of the disease if people are going into caves or areas affected with white-nose syndrome you can pick up the spores on your clothes or your boots and if you come to this province it could end up being spread here,"