[OHIOBWG] Interesting new tool

[mjohnson at summitmetroparks.org]

Marne:

I am hitting "reply to all" but just in case, can you make sure this press 
release makes it out to the Ohio BWG list serve.

Mike Johnson
Chief, Natural Resource Management
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County
975 Treaty Line Road
Akron, Ohio 44313
330-865-8057 x 221

Date:        02/01/2012 09:06 AM 
Subject:        Metro Parks news: BAT-KILLING FUNGUS DETECTED AT LIBERTY 
PARK 
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County 
975 Treaty Line Rd. 
Akron, OH 44313-5837 

February 1, 2012

For more information, contact:

Nathan Eppink
Chief of Marketing & Communications
330-865-8040 x215
neppink at summitmetroparks.org

Timothy Hite
Marketing/Communications Specialist
330-865-8040 x207
thite at summitmetroparks.org


BAT-KILLING FUNGUS DETECTED AT LIBERTY PARK

Biologists have confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in bats 
living in the caves and ledges of Liberty Park in Twinsburg, OH.

The number of infected bats in this northern Summit County park is 
unknown, but the fungus responsible for white-nose syndrome (WNS) has 
killed more than 5 million bats in eastern North America since it was 
first detected during the winter of 2006-07. The first documented case in 
Ohio was in 2011.

Park staff made the local discovery following a weekly survey of the area 
in mid-January. Biologists found a dead little brown bat outside one of 
the park’s off-trail caves and collected it for testing, and WNS was 
confirmed in the specimen by researchers at the Southeastern Cooperative 
Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia. In the days since, park 
biologists have witnessed bats congregating near the mouth of the cave – 
and bats should still be hibernating.

Although it is still unknown how bats are affected by WNS, one theory is 
that it irritates them – and wakes them up – during hibernation, forcing 
them to find food when little is available. The result of the early 
wake-up is starvation.

The park district is working collaboratively with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife 
Service and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of 
Wildlife, on WNS surveillance and testing.

To help explain the significance of WNS and show the public what infected 
bats look like, the park district posted a video about the disease on its 
YouTube channel, which can be viewed at youtube.com/summitmetroparks.

“Liberty Park is surrounded by subdivisions, and unfortunately there are a 
lot of off-trail hikers who wander the woods there and go into these 
caves,” said Mike Johnson, chief of natural resources for Metro Parks, 
Serving Summit County. “They’re not only violating park rules by being in 
these protected areas, but they may actually be spreading the disease and 
making things worse.”

People cannot contract WNS because it requires much cooler body 
temperatures, but humans can spread it from contaminated sites to new 
areas on their clothing, footwear and outdoor gear. And since bats are a 
top predator for night-flying insects including mosquitoes, beetles, moths 
and other pests, wildlife officials across the country are concerned about 
the potential impact of WNS on agriculture and entire ecosystems, not just 
a few species.

Several bat species can be found in the Metro Parks including little 
brown, big brown, northern long-eared, red, hoary, silver-haired and 
tri-colored. The federally endangered Indiana bat has also been recorded.

For more information about bats and the effects of WNS, visit 
fws.gov/WhiteNoseSyndrome or call the natural resources department for 
Metro Parks, Serving Summit County: 330-865-8057.

-30- 

ADDITIONAL MEDIA CONTACTS REGARDING WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME

Jennifer L. Norris
ODNR, Division of Wildlife
740-747-2525 x26
jennifer.norris at dnr.state.oh.us

Ann Froschauer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
413-253-8356
ann_froschauer at fws.gov

Angela Boyer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
614-416-8993 x22
angela_boyer at fws.gov

*  *  *  *  *

Metro Parks, Serving Summit County manages 11,000 acres, including 14 
developed parks, six conservation areas and more than 125 miles of trails, 
with 22.4 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Annual attendance 
averages 5 million visits.

Current press releases are available online: 
http://www.summitmetroparks.org/News/News-Room.aspx




This message and any response to it may constitute a public record and thus may be publicly available to anyone who requests it.
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