Bats that help make tequila are endangered. Here's how climate change is coming for your margarita.

    Growing tequila's main ingredient could get much harder for farmers, as climate change threatens one of its key pollinators — bats.

    Weber Azul agave, the main ingredient in tequila, is a plant native to Mexico. It thrives in the country's harsh, dry conditions and grows with almost no water — but its most important pollinator isn't quite as sturdy.

      The Mexican long-nosed bat, key to growing Weber Azul, is facing extinction. And if the species disappears, your margarita might go with it.

        "You wouldn't have tequila if you had no bats, because that's the only thing that pollinates the agave plant that makes tequila," Ron Magill, the communications director and a wildlife expert at Zoo Miami, told CNN.

        By law, tequila must be made in one of five states in Mexico. That means farmers can't opt to grow Weber Azul in another region and still call their product "tequila," further underscoring the importance of the plant's main pollinator.

      Native to Mexico and the Southeastern US, the Mexican long-nosed bat migrates between the two regions annually, according to New Mexico radio station KRQE.

       In the US, the bat is facing a lack of habitat, roost sites, and food, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In Mexico, warming temperatures threaten the species, according to CNN.

       "Mexican long-nosed bats are important pollinators that feed on the nectar and protein-rich pollen of more than 50 species of plants in the southwest," Jade Florence, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a press release.

     To combat the threats facing the long-nosed bat, the Fish and Wildlife Service released a draft plan last month to save the endangered species. The government agency is accepting public comment on it through early March.

      According to the Fish and Wildlife Service press release, the plan involves preserving, restoring, and managing the long-nosed bat's habitat, while also protecting and restoring food sources. Additionally, the plan calls for public education on the species.

         Still, the path forward for both the Weber Azul agave and the Mexican long-nosed bat key to its survival is unclear — and rapidly changing weather conditions pose an increasing threat to both species.

     "With extreme weather in conjunction with unpredictability, it's so hard to predict where this is going to go in the future," food and environment scientist Omanjana Goswami told CNN.

           The Mexican long-nosed bat population is in trouble, which has prompted a fundraising effort to restore agave plants along their Southwest migrating corridor.

          Bat Conservation International (BCI) is collaborating with communities in northeastern Mexico to restore agaves.

          Kristen Lear, agave restoration program manager for BCI, said funds raised will support conservation measures to protect agaves, whose nectar is a critical margarita ingredient and also the bats' main food supply.

         "Across their migratory range, through the Southwest U.S. and Mexico, we're actually seeing loss of natural agave habitat where these agave plants grow," Lear explained. "Things like expansion of agriculture, grazing by livestock, urbanization."

           The Mexican long-nosed bat was one of 10 species listed as imperiled by climate change in a 2021 report by the Endangered Species Coalition. Its populations are estimated to have declined more than 50% in the past 10 years, with only 5,000 bats remaining.

            Lear pointed out not just bats benefit from the protection of agave plants, but also the land, biodiversity and human livelihoods.

          "People in Mexico use agaves for many, many different things, including mezcal and tequila," Lear outlined. "But they use them for livestock fodder, to build fences and houses. They're just really important plants for the communities."

        Bats are the only flying mammal, and long-nosed females migrate north from central Mexico while pregnant to follow the agave blooms to a post-maternity cave in New Mexico's Bootheel.

        Ana Ibarra, senior research associate for BCI, said it is hard not to root for a mammal some describe as looking like a "baby chihuahua with a cute nose."

        "It's one of those things that, once you get to know them, you learn how fascinating their lives can be; where they live, how they live, what they do," Ibarra observed. "They have some of the weirdest reproductive patterns in the whole mammal group."

        Severe droughts in northern Mexico and the Southwest continue to delay blooming times for agave, another disturbance to the bat's historic migration.