Humans Out of Place in Ariz. Cavern

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Humans Out of Place in Ariz. Cavern

By EDUARDO MONTES
Associated Press Writer

KARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Down in a dim and muggy world below the Arizona desert, a place where humans have only recently been admitted in any great numbers, a tiny bat reigns almost supreme.

The myotis velifer brings a halt to work on projects that eventually will give the public access to new areas of Kartchner Caverns during the six months that females are giving birth and caring for their young there.

The myotis velifer can bring a halt to work on projects that eventually will give the public access to new areas of Kartchner Caverns during the six months that females are giving birth and caring for their young.

Even when tour groups are finally allowed to venture into the depths of the Big Room complex, it will only be on a timetable set by the bat, which goes by its scientific tag.

``The bats have the priority in the scheduling. When they arrive it becomes their cave, and we bow out of the equation,'' said Rick Toomey, cave resources manager at Kartchner Caverns State Park, about 40 miles southeast of Tucson.

Bat fossils and other scientific evidence indicate that the little brown cave bats, which weigh about 10 grams and are about 3 inches from head to tail, have been using the Kartchner Caverns complex below the Whetstone Mountains intermittently for more than 50,000 years.

Cave managers knew the bats were there when plans were being drawn up to make the caverns accessible to the public. They decided early on not to disturb the bats.

The park opened in November 1999 and was quickly dubbed the crown jewel in Arizona's state parks system. The caves are noted for the beauty of their growing rock formations, including stalagmites and stalactites and other multihued structures, some of them resembling cotton, popcorn and drinking straws.

About 180,000 visitors are allowed into the 2 1/2 -mile cave system each year, but tours are restricted to two chambers, the Rotunda and Throne rooms.

No large-scale tours have been offered yet in the Big Room complex where the bats live from about mid-April until mid-October. The bats seek out cooler climates the rest of the year.

The bats aren't rare in the Southwest, and the Kartchner population is relatively small, but they're shielded by cave managers because the bats are an important part of the cave's ecosystem. Their guano sustains a whole system of tiny insects and worms.

``They also provide certain aesthetics to the cave ecosystem. They're neat to see,'' said Ronnie Sidner, a Tucson biologist who did initial studies on the bat population after the caverns were discovered.

Scientists are also particularly mindful of the bats because Kartchner is a maternity roost, a place where females go to give birth and where they keep their young during their early months.

Toomey said about 1,000 females use the cave each year, with the population shooting up to about 1,700 when they give birth. The males use other caves in the area.

Sidner said disturbing the bats by allowing workers or visitors into the Big Room while the bats are roosting could force them to abandon the site.

``Some species tolerate disturbance. The majority of them don't,'' said Sidner. ``In the case of caves, now you're talking about a deep, dark place underground. The presence of people is very different from what the bats have come to expect.''

Sidner said there would be fewer bats in the region, where they play an important role by eating insects, if the Kartchner colony is driven out.

``The beauty of Kartchner is that is a protected place that bats can come back to every year,'' she said. ``Bats only have one young a year. It's pretty critical that we not do things to decrease their numbers.''

So far, Toomey said, development crews that are pouring concrete paths and putting in lighting in the Big Room complex have had to stop working each of the last three seasons once the bats arrive.

The seasonal interruptions are expected, so workers complete other jobs while the bats are in the cave.

Once the Big Room is open, possibly as early as fall 2003, tours will be conducted there from about Oct. 15 until April 15.