| Habitat
& Behavior:
Mariana
fruit bats are found in Guam and CNMI, and move from island to island.
In northern Guam, bats primarily forage and roost in native limestone
forest. Coconut groves and strand vegetation are other plant communities
used occasionally for feeding and roosting. In southern Guam, a
few fruit bats still inhabit ravine forests. Farms, savannas, and
mangroves are habitats that receive little or no use at present
but may have been used commonly in the past when bats were more
abundant and widespread on the island.
Fruit bat colonies sleep during much of the day, but they perform
many other activities as well such as grooming, breeding, scent
rubbing, marking, flying, climbing to other roost spots, and defending
roosting territories (harem males only). Bats gradually depart colonies
for several hours after sunset to forage.
The fruit bat feeds on a wide variety of plant material but primarily
on fruits. It appears that the favored foods include the fruits
of breadfruit, papaya, fadang, figs, kafu, and talisai and the flowers
of kapok, coconut, and gaogao.
Past
& Present:
Once
found throughout the Mariana Islands, Mariana fruit bat populations
have declined over the years, especially in the southern islands.
They were first listed as endangered on Guam only, in the belief
that bats on Guam formed a separate population segment from those
on CNMI. Recent studies have indicated that the bats move from one
island to another, linking these colonies as a single population.
Both species of fruit bat probably once occurred throughout Guam
in forested areas that formerly occupied most of the island. In
1958, a maximum of 3,000 bats were believed to be on Guam. Monthly
counts on military lands in the 1960s indicated that the island's
bat population was dropping.
Currently,
fewer than 100 individual Mariana fruit bats remain on Guam and
a fluctuating population of 1,100 remains on Rota. In the northern
islands (all islands north of Farallon de Medinilla) fewer than
5,000 individuals remain. On Saipan and Tinian, few individuals
are known to inhabit or visit these islands.
The Little Mariana fruit bat has always been considered rare and
the last confirmed sighting of this bat was made in 1968. Thus,
it appears that the little Mariana fruit bat may now be extinct.
The introduction of firearms, destruction of habitat, typhoons,
and predation by the brown tree snake have all contributed to the
steady decline of these animals.
Conservation Efforts:
Fruit bats received limited protection in 1966 when
the Government of Guam ended year-round hunting of bats and established
a 10-week hunting season for them. The Government of Guam has four
conservation reserves that occupy about 4,200 acres of land for
the protection of wildlife and native habitats. Additional protection
was given to fruit bats in 1981 and 1984 when both species were
placed on the Guam and United States Endangered Species Lists. The
species were reclassified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
from endangered to threatened status on Guam and newly listed as
threatened in the CNMI on January 6, 2005.
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