Facts About Egyptian Fruit Bats

Egyptian fruit bats are bats that inhabit areas south of the Sahara and live in large groups called colonies. They belong to the group of fruit bats and thus, the main source of their nutrition is fruit.

They have large eyes that allow easier orientation in space. We bring you some interesting facts about these beautiful bats…

Egyptian fruit bats have “conversations” in groups. Previously it was considered that the sounds they produce are random and serve to alert the individuals in the colony, but they have special sounds for particular situations and appear to very often have “conversations” or “debates”.

The production of the sounds of bats is not random at all, as previously considered. Scientists have divided the sounds in 4 categories. One of the categories is the sounds that bats use when they argue about food. The next category includes discussions about place for sleep in the colony, while the third category is reserved for males trying to mate without permission. The fourth category includes the warnings of one bat to another if second bat has entered in its personal space.

Did you know … When they feed, they keep the fruit close to themselves as other bats do not get rid of it.

They live in groups of varying sizes, ranging from small colonies of 20 to 40 members up to large colonies of 10000 members. They are active at dusk and at night. During the day they hide in caves or ruins, while smaller colonies can be seen in tree hollows.

Did you know … Of all the species of bats they produce the largest number of different types of sounds.

What does the egyptian fruit bat eat? They fed exclusively on nectar and fruit, which is a major problem for farmers. During one night, a large colony of bats can destroy hundreds of hectares of orchards. Because of this, farmers often use pesticides and other poisons to kill them, which seriously endangers their population.

At the time of breeding, males create bachelor groups, and female maternity groups. When they are in caves, they are close to each other in order to reduce the influence of temperature fluctuations.

Young egyptian fruit bats are able to fly between 63 and 70 days after birth, and become a sexually mature with about 15 months old. After becoming sexually mature, young males gather their own groups, and the females join them.

Did you know… The largest recorded colony of egyptian fruit bats had more than 50,000 individuals…