N.S. keeps location of 'very significant' bat colony secret

Bats take flight outside the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area near Fredericksburg, Texas in this 2009 file photo. (AP / Harry Cabluck)

HALIFAX -- The Nova Scotia government is keeping the location of an important new bat colony secret, although it has released a photo showing a mound of the colony's guano.

The colony -- which includes an estimated 300 healthy female little brown bats and their young -- is the province's largest known maternity colony, officials said.

The government revealed the discovery Thursday, and released mysterious photos of bats flying into what looks like a house, a single bat clinging to wood, and a rusted metal can sitting in guano.

Natural Resources officials call the discovery a hopeful sign for Nova Scotia's at-risk bat population. White-nose syndrome has killed about seven million bats in eastern North America.

"This discovery is very significant as the recovery potential of our bats depends on the number of healthy females," said Natural Resources Minister Lloyd Hines. "We hope people will continue to report bat sightings so we can learn from these new discoveries and one day return to a healthy bat population in Nova Scotia."

But the government said it would not reveal the location of the colony, "due to the concerns for the bat population."