The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) released today the results of its winter survey of bat hibernacula. The most encouraging results were from the five hibernacula in the Albany area, where the disease was first discovered. The press release says:

Previous reports have suggested that little brown bat counts at these sites seem to be stabilizing in recent years. This year’s surveys saw substantial increases in little brown bats at three out of five of these caves. The largest and best documented of these sites saw an increase from 1,496 little brown bats in 2011 to 2,402 this year.

It goes on to say that it’s too soon to say whether this represents a recovery or just the fact that bats literally like to hang out together, and may moving from other hibernacula to form a larger group.

Read the NYS DEC press release, here.

Quite a few media outlets picked up the story immediately.
Read the Albany Times-Union article, here.
Read the Associated Press article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, here.