Bats provide essential ecosystem services including insect control and pollination, but face severe threats from habitat loss, wind turbines, pesticides, and disease.
Bats face welfare challenges from disease, habitat loss, and direct mortality at wind turbines. White-nose syndrome causes intense suffering — infected bats rouse repeatedly from hibernation, depleting fat reserves and leading to starvation. Turbine strikes cause acute traumatic death or injury. Mitigation measures such as curtailment during low-wind nights significantly reduce bat mortality with minimal impact on energy generation.