Endangered Status
After 37 years without a single documented gray bat within the state boundaries of Mississippi, on September 20, 2004, a male Gray Bat was discovered in Tishomingo County in northeastern Mississippi, 42 km south of the last known location of M. grisescens before their decline and disappearance within the state of Mississippi. (Before this 2004 discovery, the only known gray bats lived at a site known as Chalk Mine, located in the northeastern portion of the county. Gray bats had last been documented at Chalk Mine in 1967.) Extensive human disturbance, including the presence of trash, smoke, and graffiti, is believed to have affected the use of the Chalk Mine by bats. While the discovery of this bat is deemed as a positive sign by conservationists, it is possible that the bat was not from a Mississippi M. grisescens population. The closest known gray bat maternal colony, located at Blowing Springs Cave, Alabama, is 90 kilometres (56 mi) northeast of where the 2004 gray bat was found, but because Gray Bats are known to forage over extensive areas, it is possible that this bat belonged to the Blowing Springs Cave colony. In the western portion of the range of M. grisescens, from 1978 to 2002, M. grisescens populations at 21 of 48 (44%) maternity caves showed a significantly increasing trend, 17 (35%) had no trend, and 10 (21%) were decreasing. A study in 2003 that attempted a species-wide assessment in gray bat summer cave populations. This study found that of 76 maternity colonies, 3 (4%) were increasing, 66 (87%) had no discernable trends, and 7 (9%) had decreasing trends. The Endangered Species Act requires that 90% of the most important hibernacula be protected and that populations at 75% of the most important maternity colonies be stable or increasing over a period of 5 years for the gray bat to be down-listed from endangered to threatened status. Because the range of the gray bat is so vast, and sampling techniques so varied and incomplete (thus data is somewhat unreliable when attempting to do species-wide census), gray bats are unlikely to be downgraded any time soon. However, gray bat populations appear to be increasing with stringent conservation efforts and educational programs, making the future of the gray bat far brighter today than when it came under the protection of the Endangered Species Act 35 years ago.
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