White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006, causing one of the most catastrophic wildlife disease events in recorded history.
White-nose syndrome represents a wildlife welfare catastrophe at population scale. Individual bats dying from WNS experience progressive nutritional stress as the fungal infection causes premature arousal from hibernation, depleting the fat reserves that represent their only energy source through winter. Bats rousing multiple times and being unable to return to proper torpor effectively starve to death over weeks - a prolonged welfare harm affecting millions of individuals simultaneously. The disease progression in cave environments creates scenes of mass mortality that represent both a conservation crisis and a welfare emergency. Research into probiotic biocontrols and cave management strategies that reduce fungal load represent the most promising welfare interventions currently available.