5.7 to 6.7 million Bats in Northeast U.S. have Died

Information from Health and Science Section of Time magazine page 14 on Januray 30th 2012 issue.

Since 2005 almost 6.7 million bats have died from White nose fungus which is killing bats in northeastern U.S. and Canada. It is far worse than biologists believed previously. The fungus has the potential to erase entire species of bats in the Northeast. A female bat of reproductive age can consume her weight in insects each night. If the bats are wiped out insect populations could explode, including insect pests that can decimate fruit and agriculture yields and infest forests, not to mention the swarms that plague summer barbeques and spread disease to humans. So far, the populations in the west have been spared the fungus, but it is a worry even in the west because there presently is no treatment for it. end facts from above article translated mostly into my words.

I'm thinking that if enough couples of different bat species were kept as breeding partners and somehow they didn't get white nose fungus that they could then be used as breeders to repopulate their individual breeds much like Condors in California were brought back from the brink of extinction. But I suppose to be successful someone would have to know what is causing white nose disease and have a way to make sure these breeding couples of each species could be kept from getting this disease. Otherwise, it is likely true that whole species of bats might go extinct on the east coast in the next 5 to 10 years which might cause incredible hardship to farmers and people in general in the Northeast and Canada.