Rodrigues Fruit Bat (Pteropus rodricensis) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

• Native to Rodrigues Island (a possession of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar)
  • Size of Rodrigues Island: 18 x 8 km (11 x 5 mi)
  • Located 650 km east of Mauritius
  • Only one wooded valley, Cascade Pigeon hold most of remaining population.
• Members of Pteropus genera mostly found on islands (86%) if western Indian Ocean to central Pacific Ocean.
• Historically extirpated (is no longer present) on Mauritius and Round Islands
• In a study of 21 species of flying foxes' metabolic rates correlate to island size (McNab & Armstrong 2001)
  • When Pteropus species live on small islands, they have a low basal metabolic rate
  • When Pteropus species live on continents, have standard or high basal metabolic rates
  • Researchers note low basal metabolic rates indicate lower energy needs

• Island is volcanic terrain
• Limestone scrub with Pisonia forest on islets (UN Rep 1988)
• Tropical moist forests
  • Island formerly thickly wooded; limited areas of endemic forest remain (West & Redshaw 1987)
  • Endemic, native forest species are largely extinct; by 1981 only 3 or 4 species still common (Carroll 1981)
• Total number of plant species on Rodrigues Island: 145 (49 endemic; 62 threatened in 1988) (UN Rep 1988)
• Most of bat population (80%) is found in a single colony in three roost sites that have been used for 50+ years. (AZA 2000)
• Human population practices subsistence agriculture and grazing; wood is most common fuel (West & Redshaw 1987
  • 35,000 people in 1988; population increasing slowly
  • Humans felled tamarind and mango trees (Tamarindus indicus) that had provided favored foods (Cheke & Dahl 1981)

The Rodrigues fruit bat is endemic to Rodrigues Island, a small island possession of Mauritius, east of Madagascar.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).

AZA (2000)
Carroll (1981)
Cheke & Dahl (1981)
IUCN (2008)
McNab & Armstrong (2001)
UN Rep (1988)
West & Redshaw (1987)
Wilson & Graham (1992)