White-nose syndrome, caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has devastated North American bat populations and poses a growing threat to European species.
White-nose syndrome causes a particularly distressing form of death. Affected bats wake from hibernation repeatedly, driven by the irritation of fungal infection on their wings and muzzles, and each arousal burns fat reserves that took months to accumulate. Repeated arousal events lead to starvation before spring, with bats becoming increasingly frantic and disoriented before dying. The scale of mortality in North America - millions of bats across dozens of species - represents one of the largest disease-related wildlife welfare catastrophes in modern history. UK bat populations face different but serious welfare pressures: roost disturbance during maternity season causes abandonment of pups, light pollution disrupts foraging behaviour, and habitat loss reduces prey availability. Every roosting bat lost represents a welfare and ecological loss.