Tricolored bats could become endangered as a fungal disease decimates their population

White-nose syndrome, a fungus that attacks bats during hibernation, is decimating bat populations across North America, including the tricolored bat pictured above. (Darwin Brock/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

A fungal disease that attacks while bats are hibernating has brought the tricolored bat to the brink of extinction. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending that the tricolored bat be added to the list of endangered species in an effort to protect them.

Tricolored bats live in 39 states east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and Nicaragua.