The endangered Indiana bat, known for its huge appetite for flying insects, is a tiny creature, weighing about as much as three pennies. The species was thrust into the spotlight the other day when news reports revealed that a lone bat had been detected in Gilmer County and had delayed a major North Georgia road project for perhaps a year or more.
It landed the little-known Indiana bat on the front page.
It also brought attention to the 40-year-old federal Endangered Species Act, which aims to protect and save the Indiana bat and many other highly imperiled species from extinction. According to conservation experts, most of the plants and animals on the endangered species list are there because human-induced problems have decimated their populations.
The Indiana bat, for instance, made the list due in large part to people disturbing bats in their caves during winter and killing large numbers of them. Pesticides and loss of summer habitat (streamside forests) also have taken a toll. During the past 25 years, the Indiana bat population has declined by about 50 percent over its range. More recently, the animal was one of several bat species hit by white-nosed syndrome, a deadly, exotic disease that has killed more than a million bats in the eastern U.S. since 2006.
Though controversial at times, the 1973 Endangered Species Act is one of the most popular and effective environmental laws ever enacted. It not only protects species at high risk of extinction, but also provides for recovery of their populations and protection of their natural habitats. The ultimate goal is to “delist” a species — or remove it from the endangered species list because it has fully recovered.
There are several success stories. Georgia creatures delisted in recent years include the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, American alligator and brown pelican.
But for many other species, there is still a long way to go. In addition to the Indiana bat, 61 other Georgia species — including 23 plant species — are on the endangered list. Among the animal species are the red-cockaded woodpecker, wood stork, least tern, shortnose sturgeon, West Indian manatee, right whale and several freshwater mussels.
Gone forever, however, are creatures that once flourished in antebellum Georgia: The ivory-billed woodpecker, Carolina parakeet and pasenger pigeon.
IN THE SKY: The moon will be last quarter on April 3, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. Mercury is very low in the east just before sunrise. Jupiter is high in the south just after dark. Saturn rises out of the east a few hours before midnight. Venus and Mars are too close to the sun for easy observation.
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