Media Release

For Immediate Release

November 21, 2008

Biologist warns Nova Scotian bats at risk

Bats may face dire a future in Nova Scotia, and a local biology professor wants people to know about it.

Dr. Hugh Broders, a Biology professor at Saint Mary's University, will present a free public lecture about bats on Dec. 1 at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.

Presented by the Nova Scotian Institute of Science, the lecture is called Life history and social ecology of Nova Scotian bats. It will be held in the Museum’s auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m.

According to a notice about the public lecture, bats in Nova Scotia may soon be threatened by a deadly condition that has ravaged bat populations in the United States. As such, it’s important to learn as much as possible about the fascinating bat populations that call the Maritimes home.

Here are a few of the basic bat facts.

• Three species of bats call Nova Scotia home: northern long-eared bats, little brown bats and pipistrelle bats. The northern long-eared and little brown bats are found throughout the province, whereas eastern pipistrelle bats appear to be restricted to southwest Nova Scotia. 

• Northern long-eared bats and eastern pipistrelle bats tend to be strongly associated with forested areas and little brown bats tend to be less restricted in distribution. Each species is highly social and spends seven to nine months of the year hibernating in caves and mines.

• Regardless of all we have learned about these species over the last few decades, there is still a lot of fascinating aspects of their life history yet to be unraveled.

A major threat to the conservation of bat populations has arisen in the last couple of years. In the northeastern United States, large percentages of bat populations are dying by a condition known as white-nose syndrome. 

Although the condition has not yet been fully characterized, it is almost certainly related to a fungus growing on the animals when they are hibernating. At this time it’s not possible to confidently predict the implications of this condition to local populations, but it is very possible, according to the lecture notice, that the consequences will be dire. 

For more information about the public lecture, please visit the Nova Scotian Institute of Science website at: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Science/NSIS/

-30-

For more information:

Blake Patterson
Public Affairs Officer
Saint Mary's University, Public Affairs
(902) 420.5514
E-mail: blake.patterson@smu.ca
www.smu.ca