General Information: Fruit Bats

Importance

Fruit bats are an important part of rain forest - they disperse seeds all over and some even pollinate certain plants; over 300 plant species in tropical West Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands rely to varying degrees on the fruit bats for pollination & seed dispersal. A.K.A. "flying foxes."

Diet

apples, bananas, cantaloupe, grapes and other fruit in season, all liberally covered with Protein Supplement.
Fruit bats eat like crazy: high metabolism; fruit goes through them real fast; guess why they're called "fruit" bats? Next to elephants, their diet is the zoo's most expensive.

Oregon Zoo Collection

We have the ability to exhibit 200 - 300 bats, but will not necessarily house that many, depending on the compatibility of the bats and our ability to meet all their husbandry needs. The number of bats is not as important as the fact that we are capable of housing 2 or 3 breeding groups in order to help endangered bats in the future.

It is interesting to observe the dynamics of the existing groups: the straw-colored hang together, the Egyptian bats huddle tightly by themselves in the darker areas of the exhibit and the big fruit bats (the smallest ones!) hang separately or in pairs and threesomes around the edges.

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