White-nose syndrome has devastated North American bat populations. Understanding rehabilitation practices and conservation responses supports bat welfare and population recovery.
White-nose syndrome causes a distressing death for affected bats through arousal from hibernation, dehydration, starvation, and fungal tissue damage. Individual bats found rousing in winter show behavioral indicators of severe distress and often die despite rehabilitation attempts. The scale of mortality - millions of individual animals over decades - represents an enormous wildlife welfare crisis with cascading ecosystem effects. Bats that survive infection may experience chronic tissue damage and reduced fitness affecting future reproductive success. Supporting both individual rehabilitation and population-level conservation addresses welfare across both individual and population dimensions.