Latest Pteropus Stories
The Explore blog brings you exciting, informative, and inspiring wildlife conservation features, zoo and aquarium stories, and profiles. Be sure to visit http://wildexplorer.org to get your wild animal fix! Silver Spring, MD (PRWEB) January 05, 2012 The Rodrigues fruit bat is the most endangered bat in the world, and 13 of them are now featured in the bat exhibit at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The exhibit will help facilitate the breeding of this critically endangered species while...
Hendra has given bats a bad name. Understandable given Hendra virus has killed people and horses, and scientists have discovered that Hendra virus is carried by bats. But it's not all the bats' fault."Flying-foxes or fruit bats are large, very mobile animals that can fly long distances, possibly 100s of kilometers overnight. They are also very social animals, and roost during the day in large communal groups. We are very aware of them because they are so visible at dawn and dusk when we see...
The Wildlife Trust says the world's largest species of fruit bat, Pteropus vampyrus, could become extinct in Peninsular Malaysia at the current hunting rate. Jonathan Epstein, associate vice president of the U.S.-headquartered organization, said approximately 22,000 fruit bats, also called flying foxes, are legally hunted annually in Peninsular Malaysia, also known as West Malaysia, in addition to those illegally hunted. That, he said, is a level of hunting that's unsustainable based on...
By Ed StoddardANALASOA, Madagascar -- The startled bats resemble a flock of demonic ravens as they take to the sky, their huge wings spreading over the green canopy of the forest."They must be disturbed by our presence," said conservation biologist Dr. Richard Jenkins as scores of Madagascar's flying foxes squealed their displeasure at the human intrusion.With wingspans of a meter (3.3 ft) or more, the bats are surprisingly big but their chosen home is small. This ecological oddity...
Latest Pteropus Reference Libraries
The large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) is a megabat that is can be found from the Malay Peninsula, to the Philippines in the east, with a southern range that included Timor, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. Its other common names include the Malaysian flying fox, the greater flying fox, the Kalong, or the Kalang. This Old World bat prefers a habitat within many areas including mangrove and primary forests, as well as fruit orchards with a variety of fruits. Depending on the location in which it...
Lyle’s flying fox (Pteropus lylei) is a megabat that is native to Yunnan in China, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Although nothing is known about this species in China, it is known to prefer homes in mangrove forests in Vietnam. It is known to roost in trees, where it can be destructive, and feeds on fruit in orchards. Because of this, it is considered a pest in Thailand, where the majority of its full populations can be found. One colony in Thailand is thought to number around three...
The ryukyu flying fox (Pteropus dasymallus), also known as the ryukyu fruit bat, is a megabat that is native to Taiwan, Japan, and the islands of the Batanes and the Babuyan Islands in the Philippines. It prefers a habitat within tropical and subtropical arid forests and swamps. It is thought that the population in the Philippines is the largest in its range, and it is quite common in forest areas in that region. It holds five recognized subspecies throughout its range. The ryukyu flying...
The Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus), also known as the Greater Indian Fruit Bat, is a species of megabat that can be found in China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Pakistan. It prefers a habitat within forests or swamps, typically where a large body of water is present. Its wingspan can reach a length between four and five feet. It lives in large groups numbering in the hundreds, and is a highly sociable species. Births contain one or two live young. This species...
The small Mauritian flying fox (Pteropus subniger) is an extinct species of mega bat that once resided on the Réunion and Mauritius islands in the Mascarene Islands, located in the Indian Ocean. These nocturnal bats was also known as the dark flying fox, and to the French travelers who observed them, they were known as rougettes. It was said that the Mauritian flying fox would roost in large colonies, of up to 400 bats, in caves and old trees. Observers noted that males occurred only once...
