Malayan Flying Fox

As a frugivore, the large flying fox mainly feeds on fruits such as mangoes, bananas, figs, and avocados. However, it also consumes flowers, nectar, pollen, and leaves. Using their sharp teeth to slice the rind first, they use their long tongue to pull out the fruit and lap up nectar. As it does not hunt moving prey, the flying fox doesn't rely on echolocation to find its way around. The flying fox uses sight and smell to find food, searching for food at dusk in ranges covering up to 40 miles. As it feeds on flowers, pollen can stick to the flying fox's fur, allowing it to pollinate other plants. The large flying fox is an important pollinator for many forest plants and a seed distributor for the fruit it consumes.

At the Zoo, flying foxes eat a variety of fruits and vegetables: sweet potatoes, greens, grapes, bananas, melon, and apples. Chopped produce is regularly provided in bowls, while larger pieces of fruit are hung to encourage natural feeding behaviors.

The large flying fox is found throughout Southeast Asia. Its range extends from southern Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, south through Peninsular Malaysia to Singapore and much of Indonesia, and east to Borneo and the Philippines. The colonies of this species that remain within its range are only a small fraction of what they were historically.

The preferred habitat is well-established trees and swamp areas near large bodies of water, but can also be found feeding in coconut groves and fruit orchards.

Predators of the large flying fox include raptors, parasites, raccoons, snakes, and owls. The main threats to the species are habitat loss, roost disturbance, and overhunting. Although illegal in some countries, there is still a widespread demand for fruit bats as meat and for traditional medicine. They also have been seen as pests by fruit growers, resulting in persecution and culling.

The common name for this species originates from their seemingly foxlike heads with pointed ears. Their eyes are large and, unlike bats that eat insects, they rely on their vision instead of echolocation to locate food. Based on their heightened sense of smell, they can distinguish between ripe and unripe fruit. During breeding season, their reddish heads turn deep gold or orange while their muzzle remains dark. The back is black with scattered white hairs. The furless wings are used for gliding, flying, protection from the weather, and for fanning when the temperatures rise to regulate their body temperature.

Dominant males occupy the best roosting sites and have the most opportunity to mate with multiple females. After a pregnancy that lasts about 6 and a half months, a female gives birth to a single offspring. Although twins can occur, it is rare. The young are born fully furred with their eyes open and are about one-third of their mother's weight. The baby bat spends the first few days of life clinging to its mother's fur and feeding on her milk. As the baby grows bigger, the mother will no longer be able to carry it while flying, and it will have to stay in the nursery colony while the mothers go out to forage for food each night. Even though there may be millions of bats in a nursery colony, each mother will find her individual baby by smell and sound. Mothers nurse their young for 2 to 3 months, and young bats should be fully weaned by 5 months. The males do not help raise the young.

During flight, these large bats tend to remain silent. During feeding and roosting, they can be quite noisy and communicate with loud vocalizations. Grooming is considered a social activity and can express familiarity and affection.

During the daytime, bats often gather in large trees to rest. These resting places, known as roost sites, are frequently used for many years, and as a result, the trees become stripped of bark and foliage due to the bats' sharp claws. Roosting trees are typically found in mangrove forests, coconut groves, and mixed fruit orchards. The large flying fox roosts in colonies that can range from a few individuals to thousands. Just before sunset, bats leave the roost and head to feeding areas, which may be up to 30 miles away.