Wisconsin moves to classify bats as threatened species

Associated Press
Posted: 09/21/2010 12:01:00 AM CDT

Wisconsin wildlife officials want to list four bat species as threatened as a strange fungal disease that has claimed hundreds of thousands of bats bears down on the state.

White-nose syndrome has killed more than a million bats across 14 states and two Canadian provinces since 2006. Earlier this month the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to close caves and mines in national refuges to an effort to slow the disease's spread.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has proposed listing four cave bat species as threatened. The designation would prohibit transport, possession or handling of those species, and classifying white-nose syndrome as an invasive species.

The Natural Resources Board is expected to vote on emergency rules enacting the designations at a meeting Wednesday in Wisconsin Rapids.

http://www.twincities.com/outdoors/ci_16134316