A dead bat found near a popular visitor destination in Yosemite National Park tested positive for rabies, but the National Park Service didn’t alert the public until more than three months after the discovery.
The delay in issuing the alert until this week has raised concerns, including online from visitors asking park officials why they delayed in telling the public.
“This happened in May and you’re just now reporting it?” one person commented on the park’s Facebook page.
“Wouldn’t someone bitten or scratched 3 months ago already be rabid and possibly even dead?” another visitor posted.
The brown bat was found outside Curry Village’s shower house on May 18 and tested positive for rabies, the National Park Service announced Wednesday.
“No known human contact with the bat has been reported,” the statement read. “However, anyone who may have had direct contact with a bat in the Curry Village area on or around May 18 should contact the California Department of Health (CDPH) and a healthcare provider promptly to determine whether treatment is needed.”
National Park Service officials did not immediately respond to questions regarding when the bat was determined to be infected or why the agency didn’t disclose the incident sooner.
“Rabies is a fatal viral disease that is preventable with prompt medical care following potential exposure,” the National Park Service said in its statement. “Any direct contact with a bat, alive or dead, should be discussed with a healthcare provider.”
According to the agency, the incubation period between exposure and the appearance of symptoms can last weeks or months. But the disease can be treated before symptoms develop.
Less than 1% of bats in nature are infected with rabies, according to the National Park Service. Bats are responsible for most rabies-related deaths in the United States.
Officials said the previous time a bat tested positive for rabies in Yosemite was in July 2025.
Cases of rabies-infected bats at other national parks produced faster alerts to the public.
Wind Cave National Park officials notified the public of three bats that tested positive for rabies 42 days after the first was discovered in May.
When a bat tested positive for rabies in Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota on July 29, officials released a statement about two weeks later. In Washington, park officials notified the public of a rabid bat three days after the animal swept down and became tangled in a woman’s hair on Aug. 9.
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