Scientists have found a new population of endangered, cave-dwelling bats in a part of Alabama where there are no caves.

The previously unknown population could be a ray of hope for the northern long-eared bat, which has been listed as an endangered species mostly due to losses from white-nose syndrome, a disease that has decimated the northern long-eared and other species of cave-dwelling bat in North America.

“Coastal Alabama can be added to the list of locations where these bats may survive white-nose syndrome,” Nick Sharp, a biologist with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said in a news release.

The ADNCR announced Wednesday that researchers earlier this year had discovered a breeding population of the northern long-eared bat in the Perdido River Wildlife Management Area in eastern Baldwin County.

A male and two pregnant females were captured in May during a bat survey in a tract of land purchased for permanent protection through the state’s Forever Wild Land Trust program, which uses the interest collected on royalties from Alabama’s offshore oil and gas rigs to purchase sensitive land for conservation.

ADCNR said the species had not previously been documented in southwest Alabama, but researchers began looking along the Alabama coast after reports of colonies in coastal North Carolina and South Carolina.

Sharp said the Alabama population appears to be unusual in that the bats seem to live in the woods year-round and do not hibernate in caves over the winter.

“This discovery is significant as there are no caves in these locations and the bats apparently do not hibernate,” Sharp said. “Rather, they are active year-round and therefore not exposed to white-nose syndrome.”

The northern long-eared bat was one of the most common bats in eastern North America, but its populations have been decimated in recent decades by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has ravaged cave-dwelling bats in the United States.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, once white-nose takes hold in a cave, it can kill 97-100% of the northern long-eared bats in that habitat. Due to extreme population declines, the northern long-eared bat was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2022.

The new coastal Alabama population was first discovered in May, during Alabama’s annual Bat Blitz, a gathering of bat researchers in varying locations across the state to inventory local bat populations.

Biologists with the ADCNR, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alabama Bat Working Group then returned to the site in June to search for a maternal colony. They were able to capture another male and a lactating female bat, indicating that the female had given birth in the area.

“The bats were fitted with radio-tags in an attempt to track them to their daytime roost, but the effort was unsuccessful,” Sharp said. “However, the ability to return to the site and catch more northern long-eared bats substantiates a resident, breeding population in the area.”

Chris Blankenship, ADCNR Commissioner and Chair of the Forever Wild Land Trust Board of Trustees, said the state has been working to acquire land along the Perdido River corridor for protection.

“The discovery of this endangered species in the area we are working to protect is further evidence of the importance of this land in eastern Baldwin County,” Blankenship said in the news release.