The Southwest Subterranean Bats Program

Conservation Issue

Abandoned mines throughout the United States provide homes for more than half of America’s bat species – some shelter as many as 1,000,000 bats. Unfortunately, these old mines often pose threats to human safety. While these mines must be managed and the threats to public safety reduced, the loss of these mines is a critical threat to America’s bats. And if mines are closed before being examined for use by bats, the bats can be entombed inside.

Despite greater awareness, in large part due to BCI’s pioneering Bats and Mines Program, some government and private managers lack the resources or knowledge to effectively address bats in mines over large areas. Bats, meanwhile, are losing their natural habitat due to human disturbance in cave roosts and urbanization.

BCI’s Southwest Subterranean Bats Program is based in our western office in Tucson, Arizona, to allow us to work more effectively with regional partners and address abandoned-mine roosts throughout the American Southwest. You can contact our coordinator for this program, Jason Corbett, here.