ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1967

CRITICAL HABITAT: Eleven caves and two mines in six states designated in 1976

RECOVERY PLAN: 1983; revised 2007

RANGE: The midwestern, southern, and eastern United States, from the Ozarks to Vermont and from northern Florida to southern Wisconsin

THREATS: White-nose syndrome (in eastern range); loss and fragmentation of summer habitat due to logging, road building, development, and other human impacts; alteration of hibernating habitat; pesticides; human disturbance

POPULATION TREND: By 1967, remaining Indiana bat populations represented a small portion of historical numbers. Since the 1950s, many hibernating populations have decreased in size, and by 1985, more than 85 percent of the known rangewide population hibernated in just eight caves and one mine. From 1965 to 2001, the rangewide population estimate dropped by approximately 57 percent, giving an overall population trend of decline. From 2003 to 2005, overall numbers may have increased, but it's possible that by today white-nose syndrome has nearly wiped out the species in New York and Vermont.

Photo of Indiana bat courtesy Flickr/Nessie Grace