Not rare, but threatened: the endemic Madagascar flying fox Pteropus rufus in a fragmented landscape

Abstract

The endemic Madagascar flying fox Pteropusrufus is threatened by habitat loss at roost sites and hunting forbushmeat. There is no conservation plan for this species, even though it iscategorized on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable and plays an important role as aseed disperser. In the Mangoro valley of central eastern Madagascar we monitoredroost occupancy and abundance of P. rufus on15 occasions at six sites over a 12-month period and conducted a detailedassessment of eight roosts during July 2004. There was considerable monthlyvariation in bat abundance and only two sites contained bats during every visit.Three sites were occupied only between September and March and may act asmaternity or nursery roosts. Evidence of hunting was found at three roosts, andfire and forest clearance are ubiquitous threats. Two roosts were in Eucalyptus plantations and six were in small (2.2 -28.7 ha) isolated fragments of degraded, mid elevation dense humid forest. Allroosts were outside protected areas but were within 20 km of relatively intactforest. Faecal analysis revealed a diet of native forest tree species,cultivated fruits and Eucalyptus flowers.P. rufus in the Mangoro valley, andelsewhere in Madagascar, appears to survive in human-impacted environments bythe inclusion of exotic plants in its diet and the ability to move betweenroosts. We provide conservation recommendations for P.rufus at both local and national levels.