Wind turbines pose severe threat to migrating bats
Source: https://www.montereyherald.com/
Author: Jude Coleman
Wind turbines kill at least 500,000 bats annually in the U.S., according to Texas-based Bat Conservation International. Hoary bats being, killed at a wind farm in Pennsylvania, account for more than a third of bat carcasses found near turbines. When the Altamont wind farm’s turbines first began churning out electricity decades ago, environmentalists were alarmed that hawks, eagles and other raptors were being killed by the giant blades. In the United States alone, wind turbines are estimated to kill at least half a million bats annually, according to Michael Whitby, a biologist and data analyst at Bat Conservation International. The group says numerous species have been found strewn beneath wind turbines, including the Eastern red bat, silver-haired bat and hoary bat.