Straw coloured fruit bats or flying fox, coming home to roost to hang suspended upside down in tops of tall trees in rain forest, West Africa, Ghana
Image details
Contributor:
Greenshoots Communications / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
A7YY6BFile size:
49.2 MB (869.6 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
5079 x 3386 px | 43 x 28.7 cm | 16.9 x 11.3 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
February 2004Location:
African Ghana West AfricaPhotographer:
GS InternationalMore information:
These large mega bats come home to roost in big noisy restless but sociable colonies during the day They hang suspended upside down by their feet in the tall trees of a rain forest and often in urban areas. The straw coloured fruit bat or flying fox named because of its tawny light brown head is considered a food delicacy by local people Also they are considered a food delicacy by local people Also they are considered pests for chewing on bark (also to get moisture) and eating fruit from commercial farms their numbers are being reduced by use trapping and pesticides However the bats are not necessarily nocturnal but rest and move amongst colonies during the day. They eat only very ripe fruit and may even help to reduce fungi and fruit flies on plantations or farms they have a very acute sense of smell to locate fruit nectar and pollen. Bat excrement or guano is sold as fertilizer. Seed dispersal and guano production activities of certain bats help tropical rainforests survive. Their decreasing population means that they are now classified as Near Threatened.