Translate:
1. Profile
2. Tidbits
3. Status and Trends (IUCN Status, Countries Where
Currently Found, Population Estimates, History of Distribution, Threats and Reasons
for Decline)
4. Data on Biology and Ecology (Gestation
Period, Early Development, Habitat,
Diet)
5. References
Very little information has been published about the Chuuk flying fox.
*** The Chuuk flying fox does not appear to be wary of humans.
*** Flying foxes are so-called because of their fox-like faces. They cannot use echolocation. Instead, they navigate using vision and normal hearing.
*** Most flying foxes eat fruit and are also called fruit bats. Their teeth are specialized for feeding on fruit. Fruit bats are ecologically and economically important because they pollinate and disperse the seeds of wild and commercial plants.
*** The residents of Chuuk are not known to hunt this species for local use, but imports into Guam from Chuuk increased dramatically between 1986 and 1992. This is symptomatic of the significant import of large numbers of bats into the Marianas Islands for food from various islands in Micronesia.
2004: Occurs in the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk) (IUCN 2004).
[Note: Figures given are for wild populations only.]
The Chuuk flying fox occurs on the mountain tops of islands in Chuuk (Truk), Federated States of Micronesia.
Hunting for exportation for food and the conversion of the lower slopes of its mountainous island habitats to coconut and breadfruit forest may be threats, although little information is available on its status.
Lowland tropical rainforest.
The Chuuk flying fox is one of the species that live in the Polynesia and Micronesia Biodiversity Hotspot (Cons. Intl. 2005).
The gestation period of flying foxes is 4 - 5 months (Bonaccorso 1998).
The young of flying foxes become independent at 3 - 6 months (Bonaccorso 1998).
The diet of the Chuuk flying fox includes the flowers of coconut.
Bonaccorso 1998, Cons. Intl. 2005, IUCN 1994, IUCN 1996, IUCN 2000, IUCN 2003a, IUCN 2004, Mickleburgh 1992, Nowak & Paradiso 1983
Top of Page | Search This Site
Home | Rarest Mammals | Species Index | Species Groups Index | Country Index | Links
By: Paul Massicot; Last modified: March 5, 2005; © 1999 -
2005 Animal Info