General
Information: Fruit Bats
Importance
Fruit
bats are an important part of rain forest - they disperse seeds all
over and some even pollinate certain plants; over 300 plant species
in tropical West Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands rely to varying
degrees on the fruit bats for pollination & seed dispersal. A.K.A.
"flying foxes."
Diet
apples,
bananas, cantaloupe, grapes and other fruit in season, all liberally
covered with Protein Supplement.
Fruit bats eat like crazy: high metabolism; fruit goes through
them real fast; guess why they're called "fruit" bats? Next
to elephants, their diet is the zoo's most expensive.
Oregon
Zoo Collection
We
have the ability to exhibit 200 - 300 bats, but will not necessarily
house that many, depending on the compatibility of the bats and our
ability to meet all their husbandry needs. The number of bats is not
as important as the fact that we are capable of housing 2 or 3 breeding
groups in order to help endangered bats in the future.
It
is interesting to observe the dynamics of the existing groups: the straw-colored
hang together, the Egyptian bats huddle tightly by themselves in the
darker areas of the exhibit and the big fruit bats (the smallest ones!)
hang separately or in pairs and threesomes around the edges.
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