Endangered gray bat species discovered in SC for first time, DNR says. Here’s where
Researchers discovered the endangered gray bat in South Carolina for the first time in August, according to a release from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
SCDNR located four gray bats in the Upstate’s Greenville and Oconee counties.
In mid-August, researchers Jennifer Kindel and Helle Cavalieri found a gray bat roosting in a crevice under a Greenville County bridge. Gray bat calls had previously been recorded in the area.
The species lives right over the North Carolina border and can also be found across the Southeast in states such as Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.
The Palmetto State is now home to 15 bat species, according to the SCDNR announcement. This discovery will allow South Carolina biologists to get funding for additional research, Kindel said in the SCDNR release.
Gray bats can migrate up to 500 miles and feast on insects. In the summer, gray bats live in caves, mines, quarries and underneath bridges.
Since 1976, gray bats have been classified as endangered. Collisions with wind turbines, climate change and disturbances from humans entering their caves are threats to gray bats.
While the species lives all over the Southeast, more than 95% of the population hibernates in a small number of caves, making them particularly vulnerable, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Gray bats appear to be resistant to white-nose syndrome, which has decimated other American bat species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
