Thursday, May 28, 2015

Pemba Flying Fox



Pemba is an island 50 miles off of the coast of Tanzania.  On Pemba (and no other place in the world) live fruit bats with a wing span of over 5 feet- the Pemba Flying Fox.  Roosts can contain over 800 bats.

Used as a food source for the local population their existence was threatened when hunters started using shotguns.  By the 1990's the bats' numbers were reduced to a few hundred.  The banning of shotguns and the introduction of ecotourism has resulted in their numbers increasing.  By 2007 they estimated there were 20,000 bats on Pemba.  Additional information available here.


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