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--=====================_3557781==.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed The following distressing news is from NatureNB: Here are some excerpts from a media release issued by the NB Museum on Mar. 29: 'Donald McAlpine and Karen Vanderwolf have discovered White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in New Brunswick's most important known bat over-wintering cave, located in Albert County... Since it was first discovered in New York State in 2006, this disease has spread to thirteen other states as well as Quebec and Ontario, killing over one million insect-eating bats... This is the first identification of it in New Brunswick, and the impact of its arrival in the province is significant. '"Although we expected this disease to appear in New Brunswick in the next few years, we were surprised by what we found in the cave", said Dr. Donald McAlpine, NBM Research Curator in Zoology. "And we did not expect the disease to hit so hard when it first appeared." Although recorded in Ontario and Quebec last year, there have been no major die-offs of bats observed as yet in those provinces. Why bats in New Brunswick should be hit so hard is still unknown. '"We estimate that about approximately six thousand bats were present in the cave when we visited it on March 15, 2011," said Karen Vanderwolf, a University of New Brunswick (UNB) graduate student working out of the NBM. "Of those, twenty-five percent were dead on the floor as well as on the snow outside, and an unknown, though substantial number, were dead or dying on the walls." 'To reduce the risk of spreading the disease by carrying the fungus from one cave to another site, the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking the general public and recreational cavers to refrain from entering caves and abandoned mines. "The Department will be working with the NBM to monitor and understand this situation," said Pascal Giasson, a biologist with DNR's Fish and Wildlife branch. "We ask for the cooperation of New Brunswickers in limiting opportunities for cross-contamination to help reduce the impact of this fungus."' [CBC News coverage of the story is at <http://tinyurl.com/6bx3gk4>.] Forwarded by: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake Maybank maybank@ns.sympatico.ca http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakemaybank/ 902-852-2077 Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds" http://nsbs.chebucto.org Organiser, Maritimes Nature Travel Club http://tinyurl.com/naturetravel author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia" http://tinyurl.com/birdingns Downloadable Nova Scotia Maps for inside front and back covers: http://tinyurl.com/mr627d White's Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada --=====================_3557781==.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" <html> <body> The following distressing news is from NatureNB:<br><br> <br> <u>Here are some excerpts from a media release issued by the NB Museum on Mar. 29:<br><br> </u>'Donald McAlpine and Karen Vanderwolf have discovered White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in New Brunswick's most important known bat over-wintering cave, located in Albert County... Since it was first discovered in New York State in 2006, this disease has spread to thirteen other states as well as Quebec and Ontario, killing over one million insect-eating bats... This is the first identification of it in New Brunswick, and the impact of its arrival in the province is significant.<br><br> '"Although we expected this disease to appear in New Brunswick in the next few years, we were surprised by what we found in the cave", said Dr. Donald McAlpine, NBM Research Curator in Zoology. "And we did not expect the disease to hit so hard when it first appeared." Although recorded in Ontario and Quebec last year, there have been no major die-offs of bats observed as yet in those provinces. Why bats in New Brunswick should be hit so hard is still unknown.<br> <br> '"We estimate that about approximately six thousand bats were present in the cave when we visited it on March 15, 2011," said Karen Vanderwolf, a University of New Brunswick (UNB) graduate student working out of the NBM. "Of those, twenty-five percent were dead on the floor as well as on the snow outside, and an unknown, though substantial number, were dead or dying on the walls."<br><br> 'To reduce the risk of spreading the disease by carrying the fungus from one cave to another site, the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking the general public and recreational cavers to refrain from entering caves and abandoned mines. "The Department will be working with the NBM to monitor and understand this situation," said Pascal Giasson, a biologist with DNR's Fish and Wildlife branch. "We ask for the cooperation of New Brunswickers in limiting opportunities for cross-contamination to help reduce the impact of this fungus."'<br><br> [CBC News coverage of the story is at <<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6bx3gk4" eudora="autourl"> http://tinyurl.com/6bx3gk4</a>>.]<br><br> <br> Forwarded by:<br><br> <x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br> Blake Maybank<br> maybank@ns.sympatico.ca<br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakemaybank/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakemaybank/<br> </a>902-852-2077<br><br> Editor, "Nova Scotia Birds"<br> <a href="http://nsbs.chebucto.org/" eudora="autourl"> http://nsbs.chebucto.org<br><br> </a>Organiser, Maritimes Nature Travel Club<br> <font color="#0000FF"><u> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/naturetravel" eudora="autourl"> http://tinyurl.com/naturetravel</a></u></font> <br><br> author, "Birding Sites of Nova Scotia"<br> <font color="#0000FF"><u> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/birdingns" eudora="autourl"> http://tinyurl.com/birdingns<br> </a></u></font>Downloadable Nova Scotia Maps for inside front and back covers:<br> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/mr627d" eudora="autourl"> http://tinyurl.com/mr627d</a> <br><br> White's Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada </body> </html> --=====================_3557781==.ALT--
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