While biologists from Conserve Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New Jersey field office were able to capture a few northern long-eared bats during 2021’s surveys in the Pine Barrens, this year the team came up short-handed. Northern long-eared bats – which are tiny creatures with brown fur and large ears – are federally threatened due to susceptibility to White Nose Syndrome, and its population has seen a steep decline, said CWF’s Meaghan Lyon.

As Lyon explained, “WNS is a fungal disease that has heavily impacted bats of the Myotis family.