Affected Species

Nearly 45 percent of the 74 species of bats found in the Philippines use caves and mines as roosts. Some of these bats eat insects, including many agricultural and forest pests. Others pollinate and disperse seeds of important agricultural crops (such as durian) and native-forest plants.

Although we work to conserve all cave bats of the Philippines, we focus on five species or species groups that form especially large colonies in caves and mines and provide greater ecological and economic benefits. These large colonies also provide important opportunities to educate the public and decision-makers about the value of bats.

Geoffroy’s rousette fruit bat (Rousettus amplexicaudatus)	Long-tongued dawn fruit bat (Eonycteris spelaea)	Little long-fingered bat (Miniopterus australis)
Schreibers’ bent-winged bat (Miniopterus schreibersii)	Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophis philippinensis)

Other cave-dwelling bats, forest bats and flying foxes also directly and indirectly benefit from our cave-conservation actions and our outreach, advocacy and education campaigns.

Diadem roundleaf bat (Hipposiderous diadema)	Black-bearded tomb bat (Taphozous melanopogon)	Lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma)
Lesser short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis)	Large flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus)

Photos © Merlin D. Tuttle, BCI