WCS 3-Sentence Science

Extreme Heat — and Maybe a Virus — Wiped Out Cambodian Bats

May 17, 2019

Photo credit: Mathieu Pruvot

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present the work of the Wildlife Health Program’s Mathieu Pruvot on bat die-offs in Cambodia:

1. A mass mortality event involving two bat species, the wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat (Chaerephon plicatus) and Theobold’s bat (Taphozous theobaldi) occurred during a heat wave in April 2016 in Cambodia.
2. Field evidences, clinical signs, and gross pathology findings were consistent with a heat stress hypothesis, but the detection of a novel bat paramyxovirus raises questions about its role as a contributing factor or a coincidental finding.
3. Systematic documentation of bat die-offs related to extreme weather events is necessary to improve understanding of the effect of changing weather patterns on bat populations and the ecosystem services they provide.

Study and Journal: “Extreme temperature event and mass mortality of insectivorous bats” from European Journal of Wildlife Research
WCS Co-Author(s): Mathieu Pruvot (Lead), WCS Wildlife Health Program

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.