TITLE---[U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes Five More Bats for Endangered Status ]
AUTHOR---[ ]
SUBTITLE---[ ]
VOLUME---[ 0 ]
NUMBER---[ 1]
ISSUE---[ 1983]
YEAR---[ 1983]
START PAGE--[ 3]
END PAGE---[ 3]
AREA---[ ARTICLE ]

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes Five More Bats for Endangered Status

The Rodriguez Flying Fox (Pteropus rodricensis) lives only on Rodriguez Island in the Indian Ocean, and less than 2% of its original habitat remains. It is nearly extinct in the wild, but is breeding well in captivity.

The Bulmer's flying fox (Aproteles bulmerae) is a native of Papua, New Guinea. It apparently was over-hunted as a prized food and has not been seen since 1975 when the last known colony was killed by local hunters.

The Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) once occurred throughout much of Australia, but it is now limited to the northern section, where its cave roosts are being destroyed by limestone quarrying and vandalism.

The Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat (Craseonycteris thongiongyai) is known from only one small area in western Thailand, where only about 150 are known to remain. Colonies are highly susceptible to disturbance of their caves, and many bats have been coll ected for tourist souvenirs and museums.

The Singapore Roundleaf Horseshoe Bat (Hipposideros ridley) is known from two specimens and is believed to inhabit small patches of lowland peat forests that are being destroyed by logging. It is unfortunately too poorly known for its status or needs to be determined.

Most bats have not been studied, and their status remains unknown or poorly documented. Some may become extinct without even being discovered.

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