Durian industry could suffer without the endangered fruit bat

Date: October 3, 2017

Source: University of Nottingham

Scientists have discovered that Southeast Asia's endangered fruit bats -- commonly known as flying foxes -- play an important part in the pollination of the iconic and economically important durian tree.

Using camera traps, researchers collected video evidence showing the island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) pollinating durian flowers, leading to the production of healthy durian fruit. Their study -- Pollination by the locally endangered island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) enhances fruit production of the economically important durian (Durio zibethinus) -- has been published in the Journal of Ecology and Evolution.

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Yoda bat gets happy: New species officially recognized

Date: August 10, 2017

Source: University of York

Summary:

An unusual breed of fruit bat -- previously nicknamed 'Yoda' due to its resemblance to the Star Wars Jedi Master -- has now officially been registered as a new species and renamed the happy (Hamamas) tube-nosed fruit bat.

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Conservationists urge Mauritius to halt cull of threatened fruit bat

A government cull of tens of thousands of bats has no scientific basis and is putting the survival of the species at risk, coalition says

Jessica Aldred

Tuesday 17 November 2015 12.03 GMTLast modified on Thursday 19 November 201514.00 GMT

Conservationists are calling for an end to a government cull of tens of thousands of fruit bats in Mauritius that they say is putting the survival of the threatened species at risk.

Authorities began shooting 18,000 Mauritius fruit bats (Pteropus niger) on 7 November, despite protests and even though the species is protected on the Indian Ocean island and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, the world’s conservation union.

The government claims the cull is necessary because the number of bats hassoared to almost 100,000 and is causing significant economic damage to the country’s lucrative fruit crops of banana, pineapple, lychee and mango.

But a coalition of conservation groups is calling for an immediate halt to the cull of the bats - also known as flying foxes - and says there is no scientific evidence to justify it.

“This catastrophic cull of the Mauritius fruit bat is indefensible and must end now,” said Frederick Kumah, WWF African regional director. “The people of Mauritius do not support this cull and nor do the world’s scientists and conservationists. There is no acceptable reason to continue with this destruction.”

The cull plans to kill 20% of the population by the end of the month, but the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation estimates the population is closer to 50,000, meaning the cull could wipe out almost 40% of the species. 

The NGOs, which include the African Conservation Centre, African Wildlife Foundation, Birdlife International, Conservation International and WWF, say the government has double-counted the number of bats.

Announcing the cull last month, environment minister, Jayeshwur Raj Dayal, said the bat was no longer an endangered species and “the aim is about getting the balance right so that we can continue to have a sustainable bat population but also agricultural production”. Local fruits are a source of income for many people, and the impact of bats was “quite severe”, he said.

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Fruit Bat Population Covering Central Africa Carries Two Deadly Viruses

Nov. 19, 2013 — The study, conducted jointly by the University of Cambridge and the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology and published today in the journal Nature Communications, found that the "gregarious" bats span over 4,500 km of central Africa (around the distance from California to New York). The researchers also discovered that thirty-four per cent of the bats had been infected with Lagos bat virus, a disease similar to rabies, and 42 per cent had been infected with henipaviruses.

The African straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum), which can live in roosts of over one million and often congregates near cities, was previously known to be a reservoir for these viruses, but it was not known to what extent.

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