Species Fact Profile: Rodriguez Fruit Bat (Pteropus rodricensis)

Rodriguez (Rodrigues) Fruit Bat (Flying Fox)

Pteropus rodricensis (Dobson, 1878)

Range: Island of Rodriguez (Mauritius)
Habitat: Dense Primary and Secondary Rainforest
Diet: Fruits, Seed Ponds, Flowers, Nectar, Pollen, Leaves, Bark
Social Grouping: Males form harems of up to 10 females.  Males typically roost alone, females of many harems may congregate into large colonies
Reproduction: Breeding takes place from October through December in the wild.  A female may give birth twice a year.  A single pup is born after a 120-180 day gestation period.   Males do not appear to have a role in caring for the young.   Young are born fully furred and with eyes open, but since the wings are underdeveloped, the pups cling to the mother for the first month.  Weaned at 2-3 months, independent at 6-12 months old, sexually mature at 1-2 years
Lifespan: 30 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered, CITES Appendix I, US Endangered Species List

• Sexes look alike, and juveniles resemble adults.  Fur is dark chestnut brown except for the head, neck, and shoulders, which are often golden colored.
• Body length is 15-20 centimeters.  Wingspan is 50-90 centimeters.  No tail.  Weight 300-350 grams.  Males are generally larger than females.  The wing has a large thumb, which aids in climbing and crawling
• The eyes are large and forward-facing.  The ears are small and pointed, also forward-facing.  These bats do not echolocate, and find food primarily through sight and smell.
• Important seed disperser for many species, as well as pollinators of flowers.  
• Unlike many flying foxes, they are not especially active at night, primarily leaving their roost sites to forage at dusk
• Primarily threatened because of very small natural habitat (Rodriquez is only 42 square miles in its entirety), which leaves the population vulnerable to cyclones and other natural disasters (loss of much of the natural rainforest habitat has removed buffers which have historically protected this species in the forests)
•  Sometimes persecuted by farmers who view it (largely mistakenly) as an agricultural pest, as well as some hunting for meat
• Captive breeding program for the species was established by Gerald Durrell’s Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust in 1976 with 27 individuals, which has since expanded to include other facilities.  The North American zoo population was established through the import of 76 bats to 6 US zoos in the 1980's and 1990's
• All zoo specimens abroad are owned by the government of Mauritius