Rodrigues Fruit Bat

Pteropus rodricensis

What do they sound like? Rodrigues fruit bats chatter constantly, especially at feeding time. You can also hear their wing flaps in this sound clip. Use these controls to play the sound clip and adjust the volume. Golden Bats "At first glance through the binoculars it appeared that each mango tree had produced a strange crop of furry fruit, chocolate brown and golden red. But as the bats yawned and stretched, you could see the leather, umbrella-like wings were dark chocolate brown, while the fur on the bodies and heads ranged from bright, glittering yellow, like spun gold, to a deep fox red. They were, without doubt, the most colorful and handsome fruit bats I had ever seen. They had rounded heads with small, neat ears and short, somewhat blunt muzzles that made them look like pomeranians. The bulk of the colony hung in those three mango trees, and solitary individuals roosted in the smaller trees around." from Gerry Durrell's Golden Bats & Pink Pigeons, ©1977 Simon and Schuster, 190 pgs.

Physical Appearance: The Rodrigues fruit bat has dark brown, thick fur covering most of its body. The head, neck and shoulders, however, are golden in color. The Rodrigues fruit bat has a wingspan of approximately three feet.

Geographic Range: The Rodrigues fruit bat is found only on the island of Rodrigues (part of Mauritius), off the coast of Madagascar.

Biome: Dense forest areas.

Diet: Flowers, fruit.

Population Estimate: 1000

IUCN Status: Endangered

Threats to Survival: Deforestation threatens the survival of the Rodrigues fruit bat for several reasons. Habitat destruction leaves these bats without homes and food, and also leaves them vulnerable to violent island storms, such as cyclones. Not only do the bats no longer have sufficient numbers of large trees to protect them from these storms, but the storms also strip fruit from trees, making their limited food supply even smaller.

Conservation/Captive Breeding Efforts: Fortunately, the Rodrigues fruit bat reproduces quite well in captivity. There are now about 150 of these bats in North American zoos, and about 200 in European zoos. WPTI is currently involved with a breeding project at the Black River Aviaries, on the island of Mauritius which is near Rodrigues. However no attempts have been made yet to reintroduce captive-bred bats to the wild. There are also programs on Rodrigues designed to educate local populations on the importance of protecting native bats.

Rodrigues Fruit Bat Resources: AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Rodrigues Fruit Bat Learn More About Bats Bat Ecology / Ecología de Murciélagos Bat Migration / La Micración En Murciélagos Bat Myths Costa Rican Bat Night Echolocation Fruit Bats Livingstone's Fruit Bat Mexican Free-tailed Bat / Murciélago Guanero Vampire Bats Dr. Merlin Tuttle / Perfil de Merlin Tuttle Arnulfo Moreno-Valdez / Perfil de Arnulfo Moreno-Valdez Teacher Resources Bat Books Bat Ecology / Ecología de Murciélagos Bat Study for Early Elementary Bat and Moth Tag Student Work Avacado Bats Vampire Bat Bat Antics Peculiar Things About Bats Bat Award Bat Reproducation

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