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 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

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Pemba Flying Foxes stretching in mid day sun

Photo kindly provided by Denise Déziel

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 Inside Ngezi Forest 

In some areas the bats are quite nervous and will take flight at the scent of humans, but here they obviously felt safe enough and protected by the powerful old forest, as they hardly noticed our arrival. They kept their wings wrapped tightly around them as if in sleeping bags. Whereas in most of the graveyards where the bats roost, they chose the tallest emergent trees with the thickest vegetation and often cluster together, in Ngezi they were scattered on low trees with empty branches. The foliage appeared to have been stripped off the branches by continual use and these branches were bent like coat hangers from the weight of the bats. After making a patch count estimate of the bats and admiring some more of the tall trees on the way out we positioned ourselves for a night count. Again our ranger took us to the perfect position to get a great view of the emerging bats.

Pemba Flying Foxes roosting on denuded branches within Ngezi   

Photo C. Farese

Ngezi forest was a hive of activity as night fell, the frogs started calling in their remarkably loud voices, bush babies emerged from their daily hiding places and started bouncing about the trees – possibly bouncing into each other judging by the surprised and angry exclamations they were making!  As the bats started emerging we had to check ourselves for not mixing them up with the silhouetted birds that were also flying at this time. We witnessed one bat make an extremely fast and dramatic dive to avoid a duck – which was a surprise divergence from their usual relaxed, straight and powerful flight. We counted 834 of the flying foxes on this evening, and are approaching a total population count for this vulnerable species.

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Thank You from the team on Pemba Island!

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Unfortunately because these graveyards are so close to human habitation they are still subject to some disturbance.  Agriculture and plantations often reach right up to the graveyard edge with no buffer zone.  The bats are protected in these areas and are also in a great position for finding fruit where people are planting them, but it’s uncertain how long these graveyards will remain undisturbed.

Typical village graveyard acts as a wildlife refuge

Photo J. Robinson

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The socio-economic interviews have been really interesting, and are a nice opportunity to sit down with the villagers and take a break from the hot sun.  We have been talking to three main groups of people; the conservation club members that have been set up in some areas around important roosts, the wider public, and school children (who are considered principal players in the future conservation issues of the island).  We are discussing general knowledge on the flying foxes, intriguing stories, and key conservation issues.  

The fluffy bodies, great wings, and mysterious behavior of the Flying Foxes causes some degree of confusion.   A few villagers have proposed that that the flying foxes are half birds and half mammals, because of their ability to fly.  Some children have even described them as big insects.  Most however, know that they are mammals, as they produce young and generate milk like other mammalian species. 

We are hoping to make a general assessment of fruit damage by the bats and assess through these interviews the possible conflicts with man where the bats feed on these fruit crops.  This may have an important implication for the future conservation of the Pemba Flying Fox if the numbers continue to increase.   

We are also discussing what control measures they have for problem animals on the island.  So far it seems that the people think that the bats do cause some damage but other animals, such as monkeys and bush babies, cause more severe damage.  The Flying Foxes especially like mangoes, jackfruit, bananas, bread fruit and papaya – which are of course all fruits used by the local population to eat and sell.  However they only really eat fruits such as mango when they are very ripe.  Many villagers therefore have the opportunity to harvest the fruit in time, and whatever’s left then goes to the bats! 

The Pemba Vervet Monkey (or green monkey), locally called ‘tumbili’ seem to cause the most problems – as they not only eat fruit but also raid other staple crops such as cassava.  It’s a tough situation when you have people and wildlife competing for resources – especially on islands where the pressure for land can be intense.  We’ve met a few troops of these monkeys on our travels looking for bats – they normally end up positioned in a tree appearing to shout abuse at us.  Although this could be in response to one of our team members realistic ability to make monkey noises at them in the first place!

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This is a voluntary position, modest living expenses will be covered. Please email us with a letter expressing your interest and your curriculum vitae at pembaflyingfox@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Ngezi Vumawimbi Nature trail interpretation board

Road through the Ngezi Forest leading to the Ngezi Vumawimbi beach

Ngezi Vumawimbi beach

Women and Children of Pemba Island

Baskets made by women groups on Pemba Island up for sale!

These women produce these baskets to supplement their family income, we are currently looking for a market for their products as this seems to be the main challenge. Suggestions are welcome!

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Evening dispersal counts are conducted at night as the bats leave the roost to forage. The teams take up positions around the roost with good view of the dispersing bats and wait for them to take flight. Yesterday we were in the South of the island watching a roost of approximately 1500 Pemba Flying Foxes. As it started to get dark and the sky was turning red, the animals started waking up. During the day they are often still and inactive, and because of their rusty coloured fur and black wings wrapped around them, they look almost like dead leaves or seeds hanging from the trees. This evening they really came to life and became quite animated and thoroughly enjoyable to watch. They started stretching their wings, scratching, and the occasional friendly squabble would break out amongst the odd individuals. A few individuals started flying in circles around the roost – perhaps testing the conditions or communicating with the others. However as soon as the sun had set, they took flight, as if on a serious mission. They fly powerfully and fast, and within about 20 minutes, they had nearly all gone apart from the last dots in the sky. What a wonderful experience!

Bats take-off after sensing danger

Photo C. Farese

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Work is continuing at Kidike roost. This week the toilets are expected to be finished, becoming the first roost site with facilities! The staff here are always welcoming and proud of their roost. The roost is little bit different to many of the others on the island. The species of trees the bats are using are smaller and sparser, meaning this is a great place to get a good view of the bats and if you’ve got a good camera – even a good photo of these beautiful animals. This week we will be helping the environmental conservation club at Kidike to translate their new information brochure into English from Swahili.

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