Frankfort
Associated Press
Featured in The Daily Independent Newspaper - December 4th 2007
— Wildlife conservation groups, cavers, environmental consultants and
others have pooled their money to offer a $4,700 reward to find out who is
responsible for the deaths of more than 100 endangered Indiana bats at a
Kentucky state park in October.
Vandals smashed the bats with rocks and knocked several into a stream to drown
twice while the animals were in a hibernating cluster at Carter Caves State
Resort Park near Olive Hill in northeastern Kentucky, the Kentucky Department of
Fish and Wildlife Resources said.
Traci Hemberger, endangered species biologist for the agency, said several
organizations began raising money for a reward after word spread about the bat
killings.
"There's been an outpouring of support from the bat and caving
communities," she said in a statement from the agency. "It is
inspiring to see everyone banding together."
She said a $500 reward in a similar 1987 case led to the convictions of four
men.
Jim Kennedy, cave resources specialist for Bat Conservation International, said
there are fewer than a half-million Indiana bats known to exist in the world.
Approximately 62,000 of the bats reside in Kentucky.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.