Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, has closed the Whiteoak Sink area through March 31. The step has been taken to protect bats from the spread of white-nose syndrome.

As per sources, so far this is the second closure of the area aiming to limit human disturbance to bat hibernacula and help hikers avoid interactions with bats. The area had been closed from September 2014 to March of this year.

Park biologists also reported about the dramatic declines of cave-dwelling bat populations throughout the Park. They linked this sudden decline to white-nose syndrome (WNS), in which infected bats are marked by a white fungal growth on their noses, wings and tail membrane.

The skin infection damages skin tissue, causing the bats to wake from hibernation during winter months. Once infected, the bats burn energy at a much faster rate, depleting stored fat. With no food source available during the winter, the bats soon die.

Park Wildlife Biologist Bill Stiver, said, "We first confirmed the presence of WNS in the Park in 2010. The impact has been devastating".

Stiver said as per their estimation some of the cave-dwelling bats populations have already declined by 80%. They are taking every possible step to both slow the spread of the disease and protect the remaining animals by closing caves and areas near caves to the public, he said.

As per experts, bats infected with WNS exhibit unusual behavior, including flying erratically during the day, even during winter months, and diving down toward people.

Park biologists said they will be monitoring the area site throughout the winter collecting population, ecological and behavioral data, as it will to inform resource managers to develop a long-term protection plan.