... n 400,000. More than 85 percent hibernate at only seven locations --to caves and a mine in Missouri, to caves in Indiana and to caves in Kentucky.A marked decline has been reported in Arkansas populations. Indianas no longer visit 10 caves here they previously hibernated. A Neton County cave that once contained 7,000 hibernating Indiana bats no shelters less than 200.Currently, only eight Arkansas caves house more than 30 Indianas during their inter hibernation period October to April. The present Arkansas population less than 3,000 is half the 1981 size.The total U. S. population dropped more than 34 percent since 1983. The decline is attributed to commercialization of roosting caves, killing by vandals, disturbances caused by increased numbers of spelunkers and bat banding programs, use of bats as laboratory experimental animals and possible insecticide poisoning. Some inter hibernacula are unstable as a result of blocking or impeding airflo into the caves and thereby changing the caves climate.One Arkansas hibernation cave as fenced by the National Park Service to protect Indiana and gray bats. Four additional hibernation caves in the Ozark National Forest and one on Buffalo National River lands are closed to the public and posted ith signs to protect bat colonies. Protecting these caves may result in an increase in bat populations at these caves, but experts say its unlikely Indiana bats ill recolonize abandoned caves.Only male Indiana bats have been found in Arkansas during summer. Females migrate northard to maternity roosts north of the Ozarks.Ozark Big-Eared BatThis bat is aptly named, for its ears are of comic-book proportions. Theyre usually curled hen the animal rests, like miniature rams horns. Lump-nosed bat is another common name, a reference to a conspicuous protuberance beteen the nostril and eye.About 1,700 Ozark big-eareds remain. Approximately 1,400 inhabit a fe caves in eastern Oklahoma. The rest live in to Arkansas caves -- a hibernation cave and a nearby maternity cave in the Ozarks. A Missouri population is no considered extinct.Human disturbance and anton killing at caves are the primary reasons for their endangered status. Predation at cave entrances by feral house cats, raccoons, screech ols, bobcats and snakes may also be a factor in their decline. Intensive efforts to protect Ozark big-eared bats in Oklahoma led the Fish and ildlife Service to establish the Oklahoma Bat Cave National ildlife Refuge. The Arkansas hibernation cave is oned and protected by the Natural Heritage Commission, and the oner of the maternity cave has entered into an agreement to protect that site.Pallid SturgeonLittle is knon about the pallid sturgeon. This bottom-feeding fish reaches 68 pounds but is rarely observed and infrequently taken on hook-and-line. Even historical records are sketchy, for the species as not formally distinguished from the more-common shovelnose sturgeon until 1905.Pallid sturgeons are rare throughout their range, hich includes the Missouri River and the Mississippi River belo St. Louis. Only to records are knon for Arkansas, one each from the Mississippi and St. Francis rivers.The sturgeons decline should concern all Arkansans, because it is one indication that big river systems like the Mississippi are sick. Creation and maintenance of the Mississippi River as a navigation system has altered the ateray and continues to threaten its viability as an ecosystem. Municipal asteater discharges, industrial pollution, agricultural runoff and sedimentation due to erosion contaminate the river and pose a major threat tot river species. These problems threaten pallid sturgeons and humans alike.Red-Cockaded oodpeckerIn the mid-1800s, John J. AUDUBON described the red-cockaded oodpecker as abundant in Southern pine forests. Today, 10,000 to 14,000 remain, living in a fragmented range in the southeastern U. S.Unlike other oodpeckers, the red-co ... Download