Important lesser long-nosed bat to be removed from endangered list, helps tequila producers

Phoenix, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Good news for bats and tequila producers alike.

Wildlife experts say an almost endangered species of bat important to the pollination of the agave plant used to make tequila is making a comeback.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is proposing to remove the lesser long-nose bat from the endangered list.

The bats are found both in Arizona and New Mexico

Federal officials say decades of conservation efforts by biologists and tequila producers have paid off.

It was once thought less than a thousand were still in the region and now it's estimated there are about two-hundred thousand.

If approved, it would be the first ever bat removed from the U.S. endangered list.