Black-eared Flying-fox (Pteropus melanotus) lives in tropical rainforest across Southeast Asia. It feeds on nectar and fruit. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Fascinating facts about the Black-eared Flying-fox
- Black-eared flying foxes live on a string of tiny islands, from the Andaman and Nicobar groups in India to the Mentawai chain off Sumatra, even reaching Christmas Island south of Java. They roost in large colonies in mangrove-fringed coastal forests and rainforest trees on these oceanic islands.
- Unlike most bats, black-eared flying foxes are active before dusk, feeding in daylight on the fruits and flowers of at least twenty-six tree species, ten of which are plants humans have introduced. Their daytime foraging lets them spot food with keen vision in low light and smell ripe fruit. This diurnal habit not only shapes their role as seed dispersers but also makes them easy targets for hunters and predators that hunt by sight.
- On Christmas Island, domestic cats make up 21 percent of the black-eared flying foxes' diet by weight. Cats hunt the bats, but the foxes mitigate risk by gathering in groups of several hundred and flying in updrafts near cliffs. Still, predation combined with hunting for food and traditional medicine.
- The IUCN lists the black-eared flying fox as Vulnerable, a step up from its 1996 low-risk rating, because its entire range is limited to small islands and it shows little fear of humans. Being active by day makes it easy to hunt, and its reliance on coastal mangrove forests means any habitat loss hits hard.
- Black-eared flying foxes reach sexual maturity in just six months, half the time most flying-fox relatives need. Both males and females can breed after half a year, with a single offspring born each year, usually peaking in February.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSoutheast Asia
HabitatTropical rainforest
DietNectar and fruit
About the Black-eared Flying-fox
As the sun sets over the lush canopy, a dark silhouette emerges, its leathery wings unfolding like a cloak as the black-eared flying-fox takes to the evening skies. With a fluid, almost ethereal motion, it glides effortlessly on the thermal currents, its large eyes scanning the landscape below for the ripest fruits and nectar-rich blooms. In this fleeting, crepuscular world, the black-eared flying-fox reigns supreme, a master of the twilight realm, its very existence a testament to the enduring beauty and mystery of the natural world.
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