Indian Flying Fox

They are large Bats, with large eyes, simple ears and no fur on the face. The body color is dark brown or black with an orange belly, typical of the genus Pteropus. They exhibit sexual dimorphism, where males are generally larger than females. The wingspan can vary between 1m and 1.5m in length.

These animals live in large colonies of up to a thousand individuals. During the day they rest in caves or trees and, after sunset, they go out in search of food. As they feed and fly through the forest, they pollinate and disperse seeds, helping to regenerate plant growth in the ecosystem. For this reason, they play an important role in the proliferation of Biodiversity. They can fly up to 60 km in a night looking for food.

The mating season of this species occurs from July to October and has a gestation period of approximately 5 months. After the birth of 1 to 2 young, they are carried by the mother during the first weeks of life. They reach sexual maturity after 1.5 years of age.

The Indian Flying Fox is distributed throughout southern Asia and is found mainly in tropical and wetland regions. The number of colonies near urbanized areas, agricultural fields and roadsides, has been increasing.

There are no specific conservation actions for this species. They belong to Appendix II of CITES.