White-nose syndrome has devastated North American bat populations, representing one of the worst wildlife disease crises in recorded history.
White-nose syndrome causes prolonged suffering in affected bats — repeated arousal from hibernation depletes fat reserves, leading to starvation and death before spring. Individual bats experience what appears to be a desperate, failing struggle to survive against a physiological assault they cannot escape. Recovery efforts focus on both disease management and habitat protection. Probiotic treatments showing promise in field trials could represent a scalable welfare intervention. Reducing pesticide use near bat habitats supports insect prey availability for recovering populations.