roost

California wildlife officials last year confirmed the presence of the fungus in a bat roost in Humboldt County, which sits on the northern coast.

The commission rejected a similar bid for protections roughly 20 years ago, and since then the situation has become more dire for the bird — the only owl species to nest and roost in underground burrows.

But the same system has been in place for over a century, during most of which time boys were ruling the roost.

They return at night to the sanctuary to be fed before they fly off to roost in the park's trees.

The culling process involves months of pre-baiting - where the birds are encouraged, through leaving meat out, to gather at various places near their roost sites.