A Wildlife Article from All-Creatures.org

A Hidden Threat to Bats: Hunting

From John R. Platt, TheRevelator.org
March 2023

Many of these bats are hunted for food, while others face persecution as "pest" species that eat agricultural crops. Some die simply due to negative cultural perceptions.

Malayan flying fox by Andrea Janda (CC Y-NC-ND 2.0)

New research finds that at least 254 bat species face pressure from hunters, and that could push some of them into extinction.

The Malaysian flying fox, one of the world’s largest bat species, boasts a wingspan of nearly 5 feet and an ominous taxonomic name: Pteropus vampyrus.

But despite its bloodthirsty moniker and imposing appearance, the flying fox isn’t a threat, let alone a vampire. As a frugivore it only eats fruit, flowers and nectar. And as it feeds and travels, the bat helps pollinate trees and spread seeds throughout the forest. The famously pricey durian fruit, an Asian delicacy, depends in part on the bats’ role in the ecosystem.

That doesn’t stop people from killing them, though. Last year the IUCN Red List, which assesses the extinction risk of species around the world, listed the Malaysian flying fox as endangered due to habitat loss and “intensive and unsustainable hunting pressure across its range.”

It’s not alone. According to a new study, hunting poses a little-recognized threatto at least 19% of the world’s 1,400 bat species. Many of these bats are hunted for food, while others face persecution as “pest” species that eat agricultural crops. Some die simply due to negative cultural perceptions.

The study’s authors have seen the scope of the problem firsthand.

“In some areas of the Southern Philippines where I live, I have witnessed fruit bats being harvested in a massive number from caves or trees where they roost,” says Krizler Cejuela Tanalgo, a biologist with the University of Southern Mindanao. And Alice C. Hughes, a biologist with the University of Hong Kong, says she’s seen signs of hunting at “one-third to half of the caves I have surveyed in Asia.”

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

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