Nonprofits donate $100K to fight bat-killing fungus

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Two nonprofits will donate $100,000 to fight a fungus that’s killing cave bats in many places, including Kentucky.

The Knoxville News Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2bFQxIE ) reports that Bat Conservation International and the Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy will support three research projects to fight the fungus that causes a lethal disease known as white-nose syndrome. The disease has killed 6 million bats since its 2006 arrival in North America.

Researchers surveying caves in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last winter found a decline of 83 percent to 94 percent among the six bat species living there.

One of the research projects will use an environmental cleaning agent to reduce the amount of fungus in human-made bat hibernation sites.

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Information from: Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.