FLYING
FOX - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Flying fox bats for
vigilance while roosting
What's
in the news?
● India’s
largest species of bats, named after a canine fabled to be sly, spend 7% of
their day-roosting time being environmentally vigilant, a new study has said.
Indian
Flying Fox:
● The
Indian Flying Fox comes from the Pteropodidae
family of bats.
● All
bats having the Pteropus genus within the Pteropodidae family are natural
carriers of the Nipah virus.
● These
bat species mainly feed on ripe fruits
like bananas and mangoes, and sometimes they also feed on nectar.
Characteristics:
● The
Indian Flying Fox is the largest bat
species found in India and one of the biggest bats in terms of size in
India.
● They
have very big eyes, no unique distinguishing facial features, and simple ears.
● Apart
from this, the colour of their wings is black, along with a light streak of the
greyish, pale, and yellow-brown mantle.
● The
average weight of the Great Indian Fruit Bat is 1.6 kg.
● The
scientific name of the Indian Flying Fox is Pteropus giganteus.
Conservation:
● The
conservation status of the Indian Flying Fox, as per the IUCN red list, is the Least Concern.