Scientists have predicted an invasion of rabies-carrying blood-sucking bats in the southern states of the United States. This is reported by ScienceAlert.
A study by biologists at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shows that in the coming decades bats of the species Desmodus rotundus, also called common vampires, may spread to the south of the country. These animals are abundant in Central and South America.
“We found that the range of vampire species has gradually shifted northward due to climate change. This also corresponds to an increase in rabies cases in Latin America,” said researcher Paige Van de Wurst.
Wurst’s study shows that historically, common vampires have always migrated when temperatures change, in search of more comfortable, temperate conditions. These are exactly the conditions that may soon develop in the southern United States.
