Service Lists Northern Long-eared Bat As Endangered

On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule listing the northern long-eared bat (NLEB) (Myotis septentrionalis) as an endangered species under Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), reclassifying it from its former threatened status and rescinding its section 4(d) rule. In determining whether to list the NLEB, the Service looked to factor C of ESA section 4, which requires the Service to make a listing determination if "disease or predation" poses a threat to the species. The Service cited the impacts of white nose syndrome (WNS) on the species' viability.

WNS depletes the fat reserves bats need to survive winter and is estimated to have caused NLEB population declines of 97-100 percent across 79 percent of the species' range. The fungus causing WNS is found in 43 states and 8 Canadian provinces, and there is no known mitigation technique to slow the spread of the fungus or to treat WNS in afflicted bats. The