White Sands National Park is asking the public for help identifying and contacting a teenage visitor who carried a dead bat with his/her bare hands, risking rabies exposure. A press release from the National Park Service (NPS) says the visitor placed the dead bat on a desk in the visitor’s center and left.
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“At approximately 10:20 a.m., a teenage visitor entered the White Sands National Park visitor center holding a bat and placed it on the visitor center desk,” reads the press release. “The visitor and an accompanying adult told park staff the bat was already dead when they picked it up. They left shortly after, before park staff could provide additional health and safety guidance.”
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NPS says physical contact with a bat, whether dead or alive, could expose a person to rabies. White Sands wants this visitor to contact a medical provider to discuss whether rabies post‑exposure treatment is recommended.
If you have any information about the White Sands visitor who handled a dead bat, please contact White Sands National Park at [email protected].
Header stock image by Arkadij Schell/Getty Images
