The Pemba fruit bat – on the edge of extinction?

The population of endemic fruit bats on Pemba Island, which lies off the coast of Tanzania, appears to have undergone a drastic decline. The author made a short survey in 1989 in some of the areas where the fruit bat was reported to have been numerous, but found that few now exist in these places. The change from traditional hunting methods to the use of shotguns as well as destruction of the island’s rain forest are believed to be the principal causes. The author makes a plea for a ban on hunting, a public education campaign, protection of the surviving remnants of forest and a captive-breeding effort as a safeguard against extinction.