Farmers who slaughter fruit bats as pests may suffer losses in production greater than those caused by bats, because bats that feed on fruit and nectar have a crucial role in pollinating and dispersing the seeds of more than 500 species of plants and trees. Banana, mango, guava, kapok, and valuable hardwood trees and others have evolved to be pollinated by bats by producing large amounts of nectar during the night Now 180 species of fruit bats are threatened by pest eradication schemes, game-hunting, and deforestation. Two species of the genus Peteropus from Micronesia are already extinct. The US Federal Register reported recently that the loss of fruit bats threatens the future of the entire south-western desert ecosystem, as plants and bats live in a symbiotic relationship. For more details, contact:

The Flora and Fauna Preservation Society -Zoological Society of London -Regents Park

London NW1 4RY UK
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