Bats
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Bats
Mariana Fruit Bat Sheath-tailed Bat
Mariana Fruit Bat / Fanihi
Pteropus mariannus
Endangered Species. Endemic to the Mariana Islands.
Photos © Merlin Tuttle.
The Mariana fruit bat or fanihi as it is called in Chamoru, is one of Guam's endangered mammals. It lives only on Guam and the other Mariana Islands. At one time, huge flocks of fanihi filled the evening sky. Counts made by the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources show that numbers of fanihi left on Guam vary from about 200-600 bats annually, depending on how many fly back and forth to Rota.
Fanihi roost in trees during the day. They live together in groups or colonies. They have good eyesight and smell, and are most active at night. These graceful flyers eat the fruit of pandanus, breadfruit, wild figs, fagot, and cycads, and the flowers of kapok, coconut, and gaogao, plus many other fruits and blossoms. The fanihi has only one baby a year. The young fanihi clings to its mother and nurses milk from her until it is old enough to find food on its own.
Fanihi live deep in the forest where they will not be disturbed by people. At present, the most serious threat to fanihi on Guam is predation on young bats by the brown tree snake. Another problem is that fanihi are still hunted because many older Chamorus like to eat them.
Over the years, many fanihi have been shot and eaten by people who do not care whether we have any fanihi left for future generations to see and appreciate. Because nearly all of our forest birds are gone, the fanihi is one of the few pollinators and seed dispersers left in the forest. Without the fanihi, many types of forest trees could disappear because there will be no animals left to spread their seeds and pollinate their flowers.
To protect the remaining population, the fanihi has been declared an endangered species, which means they are protected by both local and federal laws. The public is reminded that it is illegal to hunt, kill, capture, or in any way harm the fanihi. Violators are subject to a penalty of up to $5,000 or one year in prison, or both.
A second smaller kind of fanihi, the little Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus tokudae) was found on our island, however, it became extinct about 1970.
Sheath-tailed bat
Extinct
DAWR photo
Guam Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 9/27/2005
