Pemba Flying Fox

Category: Bats, Community, Forests | Date: Aug 14 2008 | By: pembaflyingfox

The last month has seen me back behind my laptop dealing with excel spreadsheets and data analysis.  It must have been my karma for the wonderful months spent roaming tropical paradise on Pemba Island.  I pinned up some maps of Pemba and pictures of the Flying Foxes on my wall, to help me remember them, as believe it or not – I miss observing them.  They are full of such character and really are fantastically interesting creatures.  Occasionally I see seed pods in the trees in the UK and my eyes are so tuned into bat searching that for a second I might forget where I am! If I miss seeing the bats around, I cannot imagine how much Pemba would do so, if they had become extinct or reduced to such a critical level, as was once imminent.  The bats are such an important part of the Island.  They have played a role in pollination and seed dispersal for many years, which is evident when stumbling across mango trees in the most remote and sparsely inhabited areas – it was not people who planted these trees, but the bats!  They are part of the history and culture of the Island, whether as magical spirits in legends, as a traditional food source or as forest regenerators, they define Pemba and now make the perfect flagship species.

Kidike Roost.  How many bats can you count!  

Photo J. Robinson 

Conservation of this species on Pemba has been a success story.  The last few months of research have revealed an absolute minimum population of 18,000 - 22,000 Pemba Flying Foxes!  This might sound like a lot, but it is important that we don’t give up on these bats as they are still in danger from habitat loss and hunting, amongst other threats.   It is the local communities who live side by side with the Pemba Flying Fox and have been working to protect it.  This is not always straightforward to do so during times of poverty, when food is scarce and with little alternative means of income.  When you look up Pemba Island on the internet you read about a lush green island with fantastic diving, spice tours and secluded pristine bays, but what I think helps make the island so special is this wonderful Endemic Flying Fox.  It would be a shame if anybody visiting the island didn’t drop in to visit the Pemba Flying Fox and in doing so support the communities who are working hard to secure their future (bats and people)!

Children on the beach, Pemba.

Photo J. Robinson 

Welcome sign at Kidike Pemba Flying Fox roost. 

Photo C. Farese 

Evening view of Pemba Island

Photo C. Farese

2 responses so far

Category: Bats | Date: Aug 01 2008 | By: pembaflyingfox

I noticed a behavioural response amongst the Pemba Flying Foxes that intrigued me.  The bats natural predators on Pemba are likely to be birds of prey, and humans.   I saw the bats exhibit the behaviour twice; once when a bird of prey swooped in close to the colony from above, and once when my field assistant approached the edge of the colony from the ground to take a GPS reading.  A large number of the bats simultaneously opened their wings, and the movement travelled across the colony like a Mexican wave.  Now it could be that they were just preparing to take off if the threat was considered great enough.  But it appeared to me that it may have been a defence mechanism and they were flashing their wings and revealing their russet chests to appear bigger, and startle the predator.  I would be interested to know if anyone else has observed this behaviour in Flying Foxes.

Pemba Flying Foxes stretching in mid day sun

Photo kindly provided by Denise Déziel

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