Skip to main content

Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox

Acerodon jubatus
The Giant Golden-crowned Flying Fox (also known as the Golden-capped Fruit Bat) is one of the largest bat species in the entire world... but it is also one of the most threatened. These monstrous bats are found only on a handful of islands in the Philippines, and they are in grave danger due to poaching and deforestation.

Giant Golden-crowned Flying Foxes (that is a mouthful!) are named for a patch of golden colored hair found on the tops of their heads. The rest of the body ranges in color from brown to black. The "Giant" title comes from their incredible size-- they can have wingspans that measure over 5 ft! Don't worry about that huge size though, these bats are gentle giants. Their favorite food is Fig, and they also eat several other fruit and plant types. They even help to plant the forests since they deposit seeds with their droppings.

These Bats can be found exclusively on nine different Philippines islands, though that number could drop to even fewer locations-- they have already gone extinct on several smaller islands. They live at low elevations, in areas that are uninhabited by humans. When they were more abundant, the Golden-crowned Flying Foxes could be found in combined colonies with the Large Flying Foxes, and these groups could number near 100,000. At present, the largest colonies measure around 5,000.

The species is on the decline, but a number of different programs have been put into place to keep it going. They live in a few protected areas, are under study, and a captive breeding program is underway. However, enforcement in some of the protected areas is very light, allowing poaching to continue.
IUCN Status : Endangered
Location : Philippines
Size : Wingspan up to 5.5ft (1.7m), Weight up to 2.6lbs (1.3kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Mammalia -- Order : Chiroptera
Family : Pteropodidae -- Genus : Acerodon -- Species : A. jubatus

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more