Indian Flying Fox (Pteropus medius) lives in tropical forests across South Asia. It feeds on fruits and nectar. Its conservation status is Near Threatened.
Fascinating facts about the Indian Flying Fox
- A single Indian flying fox can weigh as much as a newborn baby, up to 1.6 kg (3.5 lb). Its wingspan stretches 1.2-1.5 m, roughly the length of a small car, letting it glide silently through night skies. This size lets the bat carry large fruit loads and travel long distances, up to 150 km, in search of food, linking distant forest patches and spreading seeds across the landscape.
- When night falls, an Indian flying fox may travel as far as 150 km (93 miles) to find ripe mangoes or figs, navigating by sight alone. Each foraging trip can involve a swift hand-over-hand motion to pluck fruit. Such long-range movements turn the bat into a living seed-dispersal highway for over 300 plant species.
- A single colony of Indian flying foxes can host thousands of individuals and remain in the same treetop for more than a decade. Roosts are chosen on tall, thin-trunked canopy trees near water and human settlements, creating stable night-time hubs. These long-lived camps provide continuous pollination and seed spread, but also make the bats vulnerable when developers cut down the host trees.
- Indian flying foxes give birth to just one or two pups after a gestation of 140-150 days, and the young stay clung to their mothers for about five months before weaning. They learn to fly at roughly 11 weeks and reach sexual maturity at 18-24 months, meaning each female contributes only a few offspring per year, making the species especially sensitive to habitat loss and culling pressures.
- Despite being labeled vermin, Indian flying foxes have tested positive for Nipah virus and GBV-D flavivirus. Spillover to humans occurs when bats lick or contaminate date-palm sap collected in open pots. Simple barriers like bamboo skirts on these pots can cut contamination risk, highlighting how modest changes can protect public health while preserving the bats' ecological role.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeSouth Asia
HabitatTropical forests
DietFruits and nectar
About the Indian Flying Fox
As dusk descends upon the tropical landscape, the Indian Flying Fox unfurls its majestic wings, a dark silhouette against the fading light, and takes to the skies with a slow, deliberate beat. With eyes aglow like lanterns in the night, this nocturnal giant navigates the darkness with ease, its leathery wings propelling it effortlessly above the treetops in search of sweet, succulent fruits. In this realm of shadows, the Indian Flying Fox reigns supreme, a creature of mystery and wonder, its very existence a testament to the magic that still lingers in the uncharted corners of our world.
Hear the Indian Flying Fox, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
