Golden-crowned Flying Fox

Flying foxes or fruit bats are forest dwellers, which subsist mainly on forest fruits. They are known locally by various names such as paniki, kabag and bayakan. Eight species of large flying foxes have been documented in the Philippines. Of these, the Golden-crowned flying fox (Acedoron jubatus) and the Philippine tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene rabori) are considered endangered, and the Negros naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia chapmani) extinct. The Acedoron jubatus is the largest bat in the world weighing almost 1.1 kg (Heaney and Heideman, 1987). Deforestation and extensive hunting and collection have largely depleted their population. In the late 1800s and early 1900s one readily encounters colonies of Golden-crowned flying fox numbering 100,000 individuals per colony but nowadays bat colonies of that size are hard to find. Colony size has dwindled to 5,000 bats per colony.

Fruit bats are usually hunted for food and as pets. Because of prevailing poverty in rural areas exotic food such as bat meats are cheap source of animal protein in the diet. Fruit bats are also favorite finger foods or pulutan among rural folks during drinking sessions. Selling fruit bats is also a source of additional income for the people. In some parts of the country, skinned or live fruit bats are sold openly in public markets. Even in other countries such as the Pacific Islands, fruit bats are considered a delicacy.

For example the Chammoro people of Marianas Islands consider fruit bat the most important of the local delicacies and is always served during special occasions (Payne, 1984). There is also a demand for bats as sources of ingredients of traditional medicine and aphrodisiacs. According to Morgan (2000), folk medicines such as the traditional Chinese medicine are endangering the survival of a growing number of wild animals and plants. The traditional Chinese medicine alone has been reported to be worth $ 6 B to $ 20 B. Derivatives of wildlife species are not only used in traditional medicine but are also used as raw ingredients in the preparation of modern medicine.

The extinction of the Negros naked-backed fruit bat has been blamed to guano mining, hunting and forest destruction. (Heaney, 1997). The relationship between fruit bats and forest is a symbiotic one that is they protect each other. Bats are economically beneficial animals in pollination of fruit trees, dispersal of seeds of fruit and forest trees, and as a source of guano fertilizer. As seed dispersers, Tuttle (1983) cited a recent West African study, which showed that bats are more effective seed dispersers than birds. A more effective conservation measures could be implemented if basic information such as reproductive physiology and health management aspects of this species are understood. However, there are only few studies conducted on Philippine bats.

These included the work by Guico and Maala (1994) on the histological and histochemical description of the fundic gland region of the stomach of insectivorous Hipposideros diadema bat and frugivorous Rousettus amplexicaudatus bat. In Japan, Yamada et al. (1988) reported the presence of cholycystokinin, gastric inhibitory peptide, motilin, neurotensin and bovine pancreatic polypeptide immunoreactive cells in the stomach of two species of insectivorous vespertilinid bats. In a study on five North and Central American bats, Rouk and Glass (1970) reported that the stomach of T. brasiliensis, N. velifer and A. pallidus do not differ histologically from each other. They observed however that there are only a few chief cells in the stomach of L. sanborni.