One by one, the brown-eared bats squeeze through a six-inch hole and emerge into deepening twilight; an instant later, they've fluttered off to feed. At Kartchner Caverns, flocks of bats have repeated this ritual each summer evening for 40,000 years. But these days, with the advent of tourism, the bats are not the only creatures shuttling in and out of this labyrinthine world of darkness. Since Kartchner was opened to the public two years ago, tours have been selling out weeks in advance. So far the bats still appear to be thriving. But the cave itself may be dying.
Two cave enthusiasts discovered Kartchner Caverns in 1974 but kept their find a secret for 14 years. Now, 500 tourists daily go underground to visit the stunning flowstone formations. Photograph courtesy of Kartchner Caverns State Park
Located just 30 miles north of the Mexican border in southern Arizona's austere Whetstone Mountains, ...
