Killer fungus: how a disease threatening bat species has spread to northern Canada
White-nose syndrome, a lethal fungal disease, has spread to bat colonies in Canada's Northwest Territories, alarming biologists. The disease causes bats to burn through fat reserves during hibernation, leading to mass mortality.
Why it matters
The rapid spread of this disease threatens biodiversity and ecosystem health, prompting an urgent search for a cure to prevent species extinction.
Jesika Reimer holds a bat in Katmai, Alaska. Photograph: Michael Code Jesika Reimer holds a bat in Katmai, Alaska. Photograph: Michael Code The age of extinction Global development Killer fungus: how a disease threatening bat species has spread to northern Canada Bat experts were shocked at how fast white-nose syndrome had reached Canada’s northernmost colonies from the US. Now, the race is on to find a cure before species disappear
About this content Trina Moyles Thu 13 Aug 2026 08.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 14 Aug 2026 04.59 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google C rawling through a narrow passage in a cave beneath a boreal forest near Fort Smith in Canada’s Northwest Territories in May, two biologists spotted a lifeless bat on a limestone ledge, its body covered in a spindly white fungus.
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