National Park Service

The national park system contains 397 units. 1 in 4 of these units have caves and 1 in 3 contain mines that can provide habitat for bats and other organisms. White-nose syndrome is threatening bat populations and conservation, as well as visitor use of recreational caves and the enjoyment of bats in NPS units. Bats also have an important role in ecosystem functions such as: eating insects, pollinating plants, dispensing seeds and serving as prey themselves; their conservation is vital.
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National Park Service WNS page

WNS news from National Park Service

White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Cumberland Gap National Historic Park Bats (February 11, 2013)

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a condition deadly to bats, has now been confirmed at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (NHP) according to Park Superintendent Mark Woods. Woods details that laboratory histopathology tests on three bats, from three of the park’s more than 30 caves, tested positive for the disease; two of these bats also showed visible signs of WNS.

White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Mammoth Cave National Park Bats (January 16, 2013)

Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Sarah Craighead announced today that a bat from a cave in the south central Kentucky park has been confirmed with white-nose syndrome, a condition deadly to bats.

White-Nose Syndrome Observed in Bats at C&O Canal National Historical Park

White-nose syndrome (WNS) was observed in Washington County, Maryland in an abandoned cement mine owned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park during March 2012 bat surveys.

Mammoth Cave National Park celebrates International Bat Night on August 27, 2011

Saturday, August 27, is Bat Night at Mammoth Cave National Park and around the world. Park staff have scheduled activities during daylight hours, and also at dusk, the prime time for viewing bats.

New River Gorge National River: White-Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Park Bats

New River Gorge National River has detected the presence of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in central Fayette County, West Virginia. This winter National Park Service wildlife biologist Mark Graham observed bats flying out of several of the park’s abandoned mine portals in the middle of the day. “It was the wrong time of year and definitely the wrong time of day for healthy bats to be coming out of the mines rather than hibernating,” said Graham.

Great Smoky Mountains News Release: NEW PODCAST ALERTS PEOPLE TO THREAT TO SMOKIES BAT POPULATIONS

Bats play a significant role in the natural world and this biological function is being threatened by a disease that has already killed off millions of bats in the northeast United States. A new podcast recently released by Great Smoky Mountains National Park describes Park bat and cave resources and the potential threat of the often fatal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS) to its bat populations. The in-depth podcast, produced by Great Smoky Mountains Association, is available on the Park’s website www.nps.gov/grsm. In addition, a new bat exhibit

Ozark National Scenic Riverways News Release: Ozark NSR Closes All Caves after White-Nose Syndrome is Discovered in Shannon County

Van Buren, MO - Officials at Ozark National Scenic Riverways have announced the closure of all caves in the park effective immediately. On May 2 bat researchers from Missouri State University found an infectious fungus in five gray bats netted just outside a cave in Shannon County, Missouri. The bats tested positive in a genetics test for the Geomyces destructans fungus, which causes White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). Scars on their wings were a clue that the bats probably were infected over the winter, when the fungus grows on the bats’ faces and skin during hibernation.

Bat Tests Positive For White Nose Syndrome Fungus

Biologists at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have received confirmation that an Indiana bat collected from its hibernating refuge in the park’s White Oak Blowhole cave has tested positive for Geomyces destructans, the fungus and the presumptive causative agent of White Nose Syndrome (WNS).

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bat Tests Positive for White Nose Syndrome Fungus

Biologists at Great Smoky Mountains National Park have received confirmation that one Little Brown bat collected from its hibernating refuge in the Park’s White Oak Blowhole cave tested positive for Geomyces destructans [the fungus and the presumptive causative agent of White Nose Syndrome (WNS)]. White Oak Blowhole cave contains the largest known Indiana bat hibernacula in Tennessee. The Indiana bat is a federally listed endangered species which has seen declines in the Northeastern U.S. due to WNS.