Bat populations face multiple welfare threats including white-nose syndrome, wind turbine mortality, roost disturbance and habitat loss that require targeted conservation and welfare interventions.
Bat welfare operates at multiple scales from individual suffering during white-nose syndrome infections to population-level collapse threatening ecological services. White-nose syndrome causes severe welfare suffering as infected bats wake repeatedly during hibernation, deplete fat reserves and ultimately die of starvation and cold exposure. Wind turbine barotrauma causes acute internal injuries to flying bats. Individual bat welfare is hard to address at the scale of fungal pandemics, but habitat conservation, roost protection, reduced pesticide use supporting insect prey, and turbine management approaches that reduce bat mortality all contribute to population-level welfare improvement.