Lesser Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae) by Anna Leon

Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae)

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General Overview (Description and Ecology)

The Lesser Long-nosed bat, also known as Sanborn's Long-nosed bat, is a subspecies of the Greater Long-nosed bat. Generally found in dry, dark areas, this bat is most commonly found in mines and caves.These cute, furry creatures are known for their small size and long nose, as their name implies (see image to the right).When they mature to be adults, they grow to be a little over 3 inches, and weigh less than 1 oz ("Lesser Long-nosed Bat"). The main foods that they like to eat are fruits, flowering columnar cacti pollen, and agave plants. Because of their specific food needs, they seasonally migrate to Mexico, southern Arizona, and southwestern New Mexico. While their specific behaviors and mating system are still an unknown to scientists and researchers today, what they do know is that the Lesser Long-nosed bats form large maternity colonies in order to birth and raise their offspring ("Recovery Plan").

Geographic and Population Changes

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A significant and important characteristic of this bat is it's ability to fly from one area to another. The different communities of the Lesser Long-nosed bat have been found to migrate at different times of the year. However, researchers have found that they generally migrate to regions in Arizona from April to September, while some groups of this population migrate to New Mexico from July to September. Throughout the rest of the year, they are found in regions in Mexico. What's interesting about this specific type of bat is the way that they migrate. The first ones to arrive at the migration routes (see image above) are the pregnant females. Once they arrive at their roosts, their nesting and resting sites during the day, they begin to set up maternity colonies. The male bats are found to come later, but are the last ones to leave the sites; they stay until late October. When the female bats give birth to their young, they nurse their offspring for six weeks. At the fourth week the baby bats learn to fly, and start to leave the roosts for evening flights at the sixth. What's also special about this species is the size of their colonies. While other species of bats are found to have colonies at an average of 1,000 bats, the Lesser Long-nosed bat is different. The largest recorded colony for this bat was one of  100,000 individuals ("Recovery Plan")

While researchers have not found specific qualities or things that make for good and suitable roosts, they have found that these bats like cold, dark places that are not ventilated.  These areas are usually but not limited to caves, mines, in between crevices in rocks, in trees, and even in shrubs. What's really important to the survival of this species when it comes to where they choose to place their roosts is that they always choose an area near their food source. In other words, they place their roosts where there is an abundance of food--usually flowering columnar cacti or the agave plants ( "Recovery Plan").

Listing Date and Type of Listing

The listing of the Lesser Long-nosed bat is both simple and complicated at the same time. It is complicated in that this species is found in two different countries: the United States and Mexico. Because they are found in two separate countries, both governing bodies would have to either work together on the listing of the species, or separately come to the same conclusion concerning its listing. Fortunately for these bats, both countries decided to list the Lesser Long-nosed bats that share their land as endangered.

• Endangered, United States of America, 9/30/1998
• wherever found
• Endangered, Mexico, 3/23/2016
• wherever found

 This has made the listing fairly simple and straightforward; these bats are listed as endangered wherever they are found both in the USA and Mexico (iucnredlist.org).

Causes of Listing and Threats

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The main threat to Lesser Long-nosed bats continues to be habitat degradation. Because they find homes in hard to reach places such as caves, mines, and rock crevices, their habitats are more prone to fragmentation caused by human activity. Even though nearly all populations of this species roost on federally owned land that is protected under section 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species act of 1991, they do reside in mines. To researchers and conservationists, this is a concern. This is because in 1872 the Mining Act was implemented. This Act gives rights to mining companies that may overlap and complicate the conservation of the Lesser Long-nosed bats, whose homes are those mines. It makes the issue of protecting their roosts that reside in mines or have been negatively affected by mining. Part of the habitat degradation is their loss of resources ("Recovery Plan"). In other words, the necessary things that they need in order to survive are decreasing in supply; like the agave plant it depends on (see image above).

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Because these animals have a specialized diet (they only eat agave fruit and pollen, columnar cacti pollen, and specific fruits), the loss of any of their food sources could be detrimental to their survival. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has reported that with a decrease of agave plants in Arizona, significant amount of bats in those areas have suddenly disappeared ("Recovery Plan"). This was shown in Wilson's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Survey in 1994. Another threat to these bats that is becoming a bigger concern every year is human disturbance. While human disturbances is not a big threat to the existence of this species, it does do some harm. For example, research and survey has suggested that just one brief encounter with humans can cause the bats to temporarily abandon their roosts. The longest time of abandonment recorded was 5 days. 

The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has identified five main causes of listing:

1. The species' population has been declining for a long period of time.
2. Various Surveys have shown a serious decrease of the species.
3. Decrease of the pollination of the agave plants.
4. Wilson's 1994 survey suggested the disappearance of the species in some regions.
5. The Sonoran Desert ecosystem is dying as a result of the decline in the Lesser Long-nosed bat.

Recovery Plan

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The original and main goal of the recovery plan for the Lesser Long-nosed bat is to get the bat off of the endangered species list, and onto the threatened or near threatened list. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set up specific conservation measures that need to be met in order to make this happen: 

• Protect roost sites that scientists are already aware of.
• This would allow the populations to remain stable as researchers and scientists figure out a way to increase the populations.
• Watch over the roosts.
• The loss of any of the known existing roost sites can greatly contribute to the extinction of the Lesser Long-nosed bat.
• Check roost sites for new roosts.
• There is a possibility that these bats can help increase their populations by dividing into smaller colonies. This way, each separate colony can grow individually.
• Determine common factors and characteristics of the foraging areas to come to a general conclusion concerning all roost sites.
• If scientists knew what qualifies as a "suitable" or "good" roost, they would then be able to work towards specific and effective conservation measures.
• Get law, administrative, and cooperation officials involved in the active conservation of the lesser long-nosed bat.
• The more involved in the effort of conservation and protection of these bats, the better!
• Design and start educational programs.
• Educating the public of the issues can really help protect these vulnerable animals.
• Determine key climate conditions.
• Knowing the climate in which these bats thrive is important because scientists can begin to attribute external factors contributing to its endangerment. For example, global climate change.
• Analyze reproductive and mating cycle of species to better understand roosting behaviors.
• The mating system and cycles of these bats still remain unknown to conservationists today. If we knew more about it, it could help us understand the resources that these bats need in order to thrive.
• Understand why, the contributing factors, and how bats abandon their roosts.
• While scientists are aware that human disturbances are the main factors leading to roost abandonment, if they knew how they abandoned their roosts and what specific things trigger them, it would help researchers and conservationists prevent these disturbances completely.

What can YOU do?

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There's plenty of things you can do to help save not only the Lesser Long-nosed bats, but all bats!

A few things you can do to help protect this unique species:

    1. Do not disturb bats

• Bats commonly reside in mines and caves. If you stumble across any of these homes, try to not disturb them. Because bats are sensitive to human activity, even one short encounter with a human can cause them to leave their homes for an extended period of time, interfering with their hibernation and even migration patterns ("10 Ways to Be A Friend to Bats").

      2. Do not harm bats when taking them out of your home

• Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation in which a bat has made its way in our home. Do not fret! Instead of harming the bat, safely remove the bat from your home without harming them! This can be by either doing it yourself using safe methods, or by contacting a professional ( "10 Ways to Be A Friend to Bats").

      3. Learn more

• The more you educate yourself and others around you, the more you can do for the bats. Important organizations that work towards the education of the conservation of the Lesser Long-nosed bat and even other bats are: Bat World Sanctuary, Animal Sanctuary Association, and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries ("10 Ways to Be A Friend to Bats"). Knowledge is power!

Other resources

1.  Adopt a bat here: https://batworld.org/adopt-a-bat-now/ 
2.  Donate to help the bats: https://batworld.org/ways-to-donate/
3.  For more fun information on bats:  http://www.batcon.org/why-bats/bats-are/bats-are-cool

Citations

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1997. Lesser Long-Nosed Bat Recovery Plan (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae). Arizona Ecological Services and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Phoenix, AZ.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Lesser Long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae)." Environmental Conservation Online System, ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?sId=3245.

"Leptonycteris Yerbabuenae."Leptonycteris Yerbabuenae (Lesser Long-Nosed Bat), www.iucnredlist.org/details/136659/0. 

"10 Ways to Be A Friend to Bats." Official Web Page of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/battips.html.