Bats are the second most species-rich mammal order, performing irreplaceable ecological services as pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect controllers, while facing multiple welfare threats requiring targeted conservation responses.
Bat welfare concerns operate at both individual and population levels. Individual welfare threats include white-nose syndrome — which causes bats to arouse repeatedly from hibernation, depleting fat reserves and leading to starvation — and roost disturbance that causes mother-pup separation and pup mortality. At population level, the loss of millions of bats to white-nose syndrome represents catastrophic welfare and ecological harm. The wind energy paradox is particularly challenging: turbines provide renewable energy but kill bats disproportionately relative to birds, and bats killed are disproportionately migratory species already under other pressures. Welfare responses include white-nose syndrome treatment research using probiotic applications, turbine operational modifications during peak bat migration, and public education to prevent harmful roost disturbances.