The President's bats
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Tue 16 Oct 2012 10:37
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There are six species of bat in Fiji, the country's
only native mammals. Four a fruit bats, and two are insectivores. The fruit bats
are huge, as big as a British buzzard, and roost openly in trees. They are
largely nocturnal but do fly in the morning as they return to their roosts. This
roost is in the grounds of the Presidential Palace near the centre of Suva;
there are hundreds of bats. They're probably Pacific Fruit Bats/Flying Foxes
Pteropus tonganus which is not endemic to Fiji.
 Fruit bats just love a ripe mango (they're in
season here now) but they squabble noisily and incessantly when feeding so a
large mango tree in the garden is a mixed blessing if you value your
peace and quiet.
 They hang from branch, often by one foot,
with their wings folded around them. You can see above and in the shot below
their lovely orange fox-like heads, and notice the two claws displayed by the
bat stretching his wings. These are his thumbs, the rest of his fingers
supporting the wing membrane.
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