There are sixteen different species of bats in British Colombia. They are all intelligent species who form tight family bonds and play a vital role in forest ecosystems. They are facing countless human challenges: hundreds of thousands are dying in droves due to three things:

1. White Nose Syndrome
2. Loss of habitat
3. Loss of their main food source: insects

These brutal conditions are impacting not only the bats themselves, but the people who love, protect, and study them are all devastated by this needless death.

While the first two issues are much harder to tackle, the third has an easy solution: ban the pesticides that are both killing their food source and poisoning our bats. 

This category of pesticide is called ‘neonicotinoids’.

They are impacting our beloved bats in three main ways:

1. They are depleting insect populations: a bat’s main food source 
2. Poisoned bats that eat affected insects will have issues flying or echolocating 
3. Poisoned bats immune systems’ function will decrease, leaving them more susceptible to White Nose Syndrome

I am calling on our provincial and federal governments to completely ban the use of all neonicotinoids in B.C., and further in all provinces and territories.

If we don’t take action to defend these beautiful creatures of the dark, entire ecosystems will fall to their knees. It will start with the explosion of certain of insects, such as invasive June bugs, stinkbugs and leafhoppers— which are considered both agricultural and urban pests—who are currently eaten by our local Big Brown Bats.

These, and other species of invasive insects, will outcompete our local insects, leading to extinction of the species that eat the native bugs. As you can see, bats are the key to a healthy and balanced ecosystem in B.C.

Neonicotinoids were introduced in the 1990s because many insects were becoming resistant to older insecticides. These new pesticides — “neonics” — are a group of insecticides that are chemically related to nicotine and are toxic to insects. However, it isn’t only insects they’re toxic to. Today, five of these insecticides, including Thiacloprid, Clothianidin, Acetamiprid, Imidaclopridand, and Thiamethoxam, are somehow still approved for use here in Canada.

Please don’t ignore this. Sign it. Share it. Be the voice for those who don’t have one. Please.

I understand that many of you will need to see concrete evidence before signing, so I have compiled and summarized the findings on the effects of Neonicotinoids in bats below:

 1. Dietary Exposure (Insect Contamination)

 Bats (especially insectivorous species) may ingest neonics by consuming contaminated insects. Studies show:

Baron et al. (2017) – Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Title: "Temporal and spatial variations in the exposure of bats to pesticides"
Findings: Detected neonics (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam) in bats from agricultural areas, likely due to eating contaminated insects.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720360381

Erickson & Urban (2020) – Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Title: "Potential Risks of Neonicotinoid Insecticides to Bats"
Findings: Modeled exposure risks; concluded that bats foraging in agricultural areas likely consume neonics at sublethal but potentially neurotoxic levels.
Link:  https://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/research-papers/1809-014-Bats-and-Neonics-Report-high_rez.pdf
 

 2. Indirect Effects (Prey Decline & Foraging Disruption)

 Neonics reduce insect populations, potentially diminishing bat food sources:

Hallmann et al. (2017) – PLOS ONE
Title: "More than 75% decline in flying insect biomass over 27 years in protected areas"
Findings: Linked insect declines to pesticide use, with implications for insectivorous bats.
Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809

Li et al. (2020) – Science of the Total Environment
Title: "Neonicotinoids disrupt aquatic food webs"
Findings: Aquatic insects (key prey for some bats) declined due to water contamination from neonics.
Link:  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aax3442

 3. Direct Toxicity & Physiological Effects

 Limited but stillconcerning evidence suggests neonics may harm bats directly:

Millon et al. (2021) – Environmental Pollution
Title: "Pesticide exposure affects DNA integrity in bats"
Findings: Bats in agricultural areas showed DNA damage, possibly linked to pesticide exposure (including neonics).
Link:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720360381

Walker et al. (2022) – Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Title: "Neonicotinoids in the Blood of Insectivorous Bats"
Findings: Detected neonics in bat blood samples, raising concerns about chronic exposure effects.
Link:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048357519304705