Bats Without Borders: New Study Warns of Extinction

Wildlife Trust Recommends Immediate Action To Save Bat Species

NEW YORK – August 25, 2009 – Wildlife Trust, the conservation organization that empowers local conservation scientists worldwide to protect nature and safeguard ecosystems and human health, announced the need for stricter controls to monitor the survival of the world’s largest species of fruit bat.  In a paper released today by the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, Dr. Jonathan Epstein reports that Pteropus vampyrus or the “large flying fox” fruit bat is facing local extinction unless conservation methods are implemented at a multi-national level.

Wildlife Trust vetrerinary epidemiologist Dr. Jonathan Epstein and an international group of colleagues, including partners at the Malaysian Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), conducted a first-of-its-kind study on flying fox fruit bats in Asia with particular focus on bat populations in Penisular Malaysia.  The team surveyed over 30 roost sites across the Malay Peninsula over a four year period and compared this data to the number of hunting licenses issued by PERHILITAN.  The results showed that current levels of hunting and killing flying fox bats – commonly hunted for food and sport and deemed as agricultural pests by farmers – would cause the species to become extinct in Peninsular Malaysia within our lifetime.  “Our models suggest that the current level of legal hunting [in addition to those illegally hunted] is unsustainable for the number of bats in the country and will decimate this ecologically important species.”  Bats play a vital role in rainforest ecosystems providing pollination and seed dispersal.

Considered the largest bats in the world with a wingspan of up to five feet, flying foxes feed on fruit and nectar, live in colonies, and are highly mobile. To better understand their migration patterns the team, led by Dr. Epstein, used small satellite transmitters attached to bats to gauge mobility.  Surprisingly, flying foxes flew as far as Indonesia and Thailand to feed and roost. “Now that we know that these bats migrate between Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia coordinated assessments of their status throughout their range will be important for developing effective management strategies,” commented Epstein. The species ranges from Burma, Thailand, Indochina and Peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra, Borneo, Java and the Philippines.

In order to save the species from local extinction, Dr. Epstein and his colleagues recommend a temporary ban on hunting flying foxes in Malaysia to allow the population to recover and to allow for a more comprehensive assessment. The Malaysian Department of National Parks and Wildlife participated in the research and is currently reviewing hunting policy in light of this study.

“Our study illustrates that bats, like other migratory species, require comprehensive protection by regional management plans across their range,” said Epstein.

About Wildlife Trust
Wildlife Trust empowers local conservation scientists worldwide to protect nature and safeguard ecosystem and human health. Wildlife Trust is a conservation science innovator and leverages research expertise through strategic global alliances. Wildlife Trust pioneered the field of Conservation Medicine, a new discipline that addresses the link between ecological disruption of habitats and the effects on wildlife, livestock and human health.

Founded in 1971 by British naturalist and author Gerald Durrell, Wildlife Trust has built its reputation on 35 years of global research, education, training and experience. Research and conservation work in the United States include programs in Florida and along the coast of the Southeastern U.S.

Internationally, Wildlife Trust trains and supports a network of scientists around the world to save endangered species and their habitats and to protect the health of vital ecosystems. Wildlife Trust created the first egalitarian international network of science-based conservation organizations called the Wildlife Trust Alliance and is a founding partner organization of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, a unique think-tank of prestigious academic institutions.

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