Threatened Species Factsheet No. 4

FIJIAN MASTIFF BAT

What are they called?Scientific:Chaerephon bregullaeEnglish: Fijian Free-tailed BatFrench: Bislama:Vernacular (local name):

These are micro-bats thatuse sonar to find their food(echolocation). They eatinsects and can be seenflying around to catchthem in coconut groves,on farmland, in forests andeven over the sea, near tothe coast.They are found on Maloand Santo but their biggestpopulation is in Fiji.Not very much is knowabout them.They roost in large numbersoften thousands, insidecaves. They breedseasonally with the youngbeing born aroundDecember.

What do they look like?These are small bats. Theirbodies are about 6 cm long.They have very distinctivefaces and long thick tails andthe large ears with smoothmargins. Their fur is brownishgrey all over their body.

Did you know?• This bat is the only mastiff bat

that lives in Vanuatu.• This bat is only found in

Vanuatu and Fiji.• It used to live in Tonga as well

but it became extinct fromTonga in prehistoric times.

Source: http://www.planet-mammiferes.org

A little bit about them:

Fijian Mastiff Bats areclassified as Endangered (EN)on the IUCN Red List.Why are they threatened?Ø Disturbance of their

roosting sites (caves).Ø Hunted for food.Ø They only roost and breed

in a very few caves so thepopulation is at risk ifsomething happen to oneor two of those caves.

Ø Bats poo is known asguano and it is a veryvaluable source oforganic fertilizer.

Ø They eat insects includingsome pests such asmosquitos and insectsthat eat crops.

ü Identify roosting sitesand protect themfrom disturbance.

ü Record sightings, takepictures of mammalsthat you think couldbe Fijian Mastiff Bats.

ü Observe and recordwhich caves theyroost in, where theygo to feed and whenthey have young.

ü Send the sightingsinformation youcollect to VESS orDEPC.

What do they do for us?

Want to know more?v Read more in the book

Mammals of the South-West Pacific & the MoluccanIslands by Tim Flannery.

v Visit: www.iucnredlist.org

Source: http://www.planet-mammiferes.org What can we do for them?