Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes to List the Tricolored Bat as Endangered

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

A tri-colored bat.                                              (Photo: Gary Peeples/USFWS)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a proposal to list the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species faces extinction due primarily to the range-wide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave-dwelling bats across the continent. 

Bats are essential for healthy ecosystems and contribute at least $3 billion annually to the U.S. agriculture economy through pest control and pollination. The growing extinction crisis highlights the importance of the ESA and efforts to conserve species before declines become irreversible. 

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