Endangered Indiana bat captured in NC for first time since 2015

Key Points:

• Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently captured an endangered Indiana bat in Graham County's Nantahala National Forest, marking the first capture in the state since 2015.
• Indiana bats have been federally endangered since 1967 and are vulnerable to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that has killed an estimated 6.7 million bats since 2006, severely impacting populations in North Carolina's mountains.
• The discovery came during expanded surveys aimed at finding WNS-surviving bat species, following recent captures of little brown bats, another species susceptible to the disease.
• Indiana bats, native to several eastern states despite their name, were last confirmed in North Carolina via roost surveys five years ago, with mist-netting providing a more hands-on method for capturing and studying them.
• Bats play a crucial ecological role by consuming billions of insects annually, and Indiana bats have an average lifespan of about 14 years.