(Myotis sodalis)

Weighing less that three-tenths of an ounce, with a wingspan of nine to eleven inches, the Indiana bat has brought the fundamental need for habitat preservation to the fore.

Indigenous to the eastern United States, the Indiana bat usually hibernates from October to April in large groups of up to several thousand in caves that have temperatures averaging 38-43 degrees F and a relative humidity of 66%-99%. The females leave the caves before the males and set up maternity roosts by mid-May. The males often establish their summer roosts near maternity roosts.

These elusive little bats roost in mature and old-growth trees to raise their young, while quietly maintaining nature’s delicate balance by eating insects of all varieties at different stages of maternity. While pregnant, the females eat soft-bodied insects; while nursing, they eat moths; and after nursing, they eat moths and hard-bodies insects. They give birth to one young each June, setting up maternity roosts under the loose bark of older trees. These maternity roosts are essential to the bat’s recovery.

Early August brings Indiana bats back n large numbers to their hibernation caves, where swarming activities begin. Swarming will continue until mid- to late October, while the bats build up the necessary fat reserves for hibernation.

Extinction Pressures
The Indiana bat has a lifespan of about fourteen years, but the species as a whole has a less predictable future. Listed as endangered since 1968 (before passage of the current Endangered Species Act), Indiana bat populations have dropped from 850,000 at the time they were initially listed, to less that 350,000 today. The bat’s struggle to recover from the brink of extinction stems in part from timber practices on our public lands. While the Indian bat’s winter habitat, namely caves throughout the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, are protected as critical habitat, the bat’s breeding habitat—mature and old growth forests—remains unprotected.

Conservation Status
In 2005, SABP and partner organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Forest Service for failing to adequately protect the endangered Indiana bat. Despite being listed since 1968, Indian bat populations continue to decline in the face of measures that the government claims will protect them. Included in the government's measures are provisions that allow logging on national forests, highway construction, strip mall development, and oil and gas development. FWS has determined in every case that the projects are not threatening the species.

Our lawsuit challenged those determinations and asked the court to order the FWS to protect the species as mandated by the Endangered Species Act. This lawsuit also asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate summer habitat as “critical” for the survival of the species.

Recently the court denied our petition, stating “We find that the petition does not present substantial scientific information indicating that revising critical habitat for the Indiana bat may be warranted.” SABP and our litigation partners are now weighing the merit of appeal the court’s shortsighted decision.