It is estimated that the Australian commercial fruit industry loses approximately $20 million per year to flying foxes (not just P. alecto). Because of this, P. alecto is shot as an orchard pest in many areas. It also is known to carry/contract bat Lyssavirus, which is similar to the rabies virus and can be contracted by humans. However, it is not known how easily Lyssavirus is transmitted to humans or other mammals.
Negative Impacts: crop pest; causes or carries domestic animal disease
Little information exists on predation in black flying foxes.
Pteropus alecto has a black body with some lighter hairs, and a black head. These animals may have a brown eye-ring, and often have a reddish collar on the back of the neck. The legs are furred to the knee, but are hairless below. The forearm length measures 153 to 191 mm and average weight is 667g.
Average mass: 667 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
It is unknown how long black flying foxes live, however, it has been estimated that the females which survive to maturity would need to live about 7 years to maintain a stable population. Approximately 30 % of females born survive to maturity, compared to 37% in males. Survival rates vary between camps and between years. In years in which food is more abundant, lower levels of mortality are expected.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 4.5 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 19.7 years.
In Australia, black flying foxes are found in the subtropical and tropical latitudes, primarily in the coastal areas of the northern territory and as far as 250 km inland. Their habitat consists of rainforest, eucalyptus open forest, and savanna woodland. They roost primarily in bamboo, rainforests, and mangroves. However, there have been a few known roosting sites in caves and overhangs. Palmer and Woinarski (1999) found that, during the cooler dry season months, 74% of black flying foxes roosted in bamboo, 20% in mangroves, and 6% in rainforest habitats. During the build-up season (characterized by warming temperatures and early rains), 68% roosted in rainforest, 17% roosted in mangroves, and 15% roosted in bamboo. During the wet season, 52% roosted in rainforest, 28% in bamboo, and 20% roosted in mangroves.
Black flying foxes roosting in bamboo thickets roost 12 to 16 m off the ground, space themselves less than 1 m apart, and forage predominantly in woodland habitat. Those roosting in rainforests roost more than 18 m off the ground, space themselves approximately 1 m apart, and forage predominantly in forest and rainforest habitat dominated by Melaleuca species. Females use camps more than males, and smaller camps tend to be primarily made up of males and sub-adults.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
Wetlands: swamp
Other Habitat Features: riparian
Pteropus alecto is found in the Australian and Oriental regions of the world. It is found from tropical/subtropical Australia to Sulawesi (from 0 to 29° south latitude).
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native ); australian (Native ); oceanic islands (Native )
Black flying foxes are dietary generalists known to feed on fruits, pollen, and nectar of 23 rainforest species. These species include Carpentaria acuminata, Terminalia microcarpa, Diospyros littorea, Elaeocarpus arnhemicus, Ficus opposita, Ficus racemosa, Ficus scobina, Ficus virens, Eucalyptus miniata, Eucalyptus papuana, Eucalyptus polycarpa, Eucalyptus tetrodonta, Lophostemon grandiflorus, Lophostemon lactifluus, Melaleuca dealbata, Melaleuca viridiflora, Syzygium nervosum, Passiflora foetida, Grevillea pteridifolia, Nauclea orientalis, Timonius timon, Cupaniopsis anacardioides, and Gmelina schlechteri.
Black flying foxes forage on different resources depending upon the time of year. During the dry season, they forage primarily in Eucalyptus open forest. During the build-up season, they forage primarily in the Melaleuca open forest, and during the wet season, they forage primarily in rainforest. It has been suggested that P. alecto selects sites that are richer in resources than floristically similar sites, which suggests that apparently similar habitats are actually different in resource abundance.
Plant Foods: fruit; nectar; pollen
Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore , Nectarivore )
Because of its ability to access patchily distributed resources, P. alecto probably plays an important role in connecting isolated fragments of rainforest by transporting seeds and pollen between feeding sites. It is probably an important pollinator of 2 Eucalyptus species in northern Australia, and it is also probably an important pollinator and seed disperser in Syzygium species.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds; pollinates
Throughout much of its range, P. alecto is hunted for food.
Positive Impacts: food
Pteropus alecto is currently listed under CITES appendix II and is not mentioned on the IUCN Red List or the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Little information exists on communication in black flying foxes. However, as mammals, they are likely to use visual signals, tactile communication, scent information, and vocalizations.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
There have been some individuals that appear to be hybrids between black flying foxes and grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus). These individuals had characteristics of both parent species, however, genetic testing of these hybrids failed to confirm that they were hybrids. The authors note that further testing needs to be done to conclude whether or not these individuals are actually hybrids.
Little information exists on mating systems in black flying foxes.
Peak birth times are correlated with periods of maximal plant productivity, hence, the timing of births varies with location. In Brisbane, Australia, most births are in October to November. In the northern territory of Australia, peak birth times are from January to March, and births in November are unusual but not rare.
It takes females 14.8 to 17 months and males 16.3 to 18 months to reach adult size. Females tend to grow faster than males. On average, females gain 2.56 g/day and their forearms grow 0.25 mm/day. On average, males gain 2.28 g/day and their forearms grow 0.15 mm/day.
Breeding interval: These bats appear to breed annually.
Breeding season: The breeding and therefore birthing seasons vary with geography, and are timed so that births occur during the time of maximum fruit productivity.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average number of offspring: 1.2.
Little information exists on parental care in black flying foxes. As mammals, it is likely that females play the largest role in parental care. They provide offspring with protection and nourishment until they are independent and weaned. However, beyond that basic speculation, information is not available.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting)
The black flying fox or black fruit bat (Pteropus alecto) is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, Pteropus. The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species.
Juvenile specimens of this species from Moa Island in Torres Strait have been described as a separate species, Pteropus banakrisi.[2] This supposed species was known as the "Torresian flying fox" or "Moa Island fruit bat".
The black flying fox has short, black hair with a contrasting reddish-brown mantle, and a mean forearm length of 164 mm (6.46 in) and a mean weight of 710 g (1.57 lb). It is one of the largest bat species in the world, and has a wingspan of more than 1 m.
Black flying foxes are native to Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia), Papua New Guinea (Western Province) and Indonesia (West Papua, Sulawesi, Sumba, and Savu).
During the day, individuals reside in large roosts (colonies or 'camps') consisting of hundreds to tens of thousands of individuals. They sometimes share their roosts with the grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), the spectacled flying fox (P. conspicillatus), and/or the little red flying fox (P. scapulatus). They roost in mangroves, paperbark swamps, patches of rainforest and bamboo forests, and very rarely in caves or underneath overhangs.
Black flying foxes breed once a year. A single young is born and carried by its mother for the first month of life, after which it is left behind in the roost when the mother is out foraging at night.
Black flying foxes eat pollen and nectar from native eucalyptus, lilypillies, paperbark, and turpentine trees. When native foods are scarce, particularly during drought, the bats may take introduced or commercial fruits, such as mangos and apples. This species had been known to travel up to 50 km (31 mi) a night in search of food. In residential areas, the species has adapted to eating introduced cocos palm trees as a substitute for scarcer native species - and now accounts for around 30% of the animals' food source. However, the high acidity of the palm fruits can prove toxic and may lead to death.[3]
The black flying fox is not listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List; nevertheless, the species is exposed to several threats, including loss of foraging and roosting habitat, and mass die-offs caused by extreme temperature events.[4] Because climate change is predicted to make Australia hotter, the negative impacts this species faces from extreme temperature events are expected to grow into a larger problem.[5] According to one study, these animals begin to die once temperatures reach above 40°C.[5] Another study of records from wildlife rehabilitation clinics in Australia found that heat stress particularly affected black flying foxes compared to other flying fox species. Clinic records indicated that 46% of wildlife rescues of black flying foxes were due to heat stress, compared to 18% of grey-headed flying fox rescues and 8% of little red flying fox rescues.[6]
When present in urban environments, black flying foxes are sometimes perceived as a nuisance. Because their roosting and foraging habits bring the species into conflict with humans, it suffers from direct killing of animals in orchards and harassment and destruction of roosts. In Indonesia, this species is frequently consumed as bushmeat, with concerns that the population loss might not be sustainable.[7]
Negative public perception of the species has intensified with the discovery of three recently emerged zoonotic viruses that are potentially fatal to humans: Australian bat lyssavirus,[8] Hendra virus, and Menangle virus. However, only the Australian bat lyssavirus is known from two isolated cases to be directly transmissible from bats to humans.
Flying foxes often come to the attention of Australian wildlife care and rescue organisations, such as Wildcare Australia,[9] Orphan Native Animal Rear and Release Association Incorporated,[10] Wildlife Carers Darling Downs, Bat Care, Bat Rescue, Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers, and WIRES when reported as injured, sick, orphaned or abandoned. A very high proportion of adult flying fox injuries are caused by entanglement in barbed wire fences or loose, improperly erected fruit tree netting, both of which can result in very serious injuries and a slow, agonizing death for the animal if not rescued quickly.
The black flying fox or black fruit bat (Pteropus alecto) is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, Pteropus. The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species.