Egyptian Fruit Bat - Five Sisters Zoo

Individuals have a dark brown to black coat. Normally their chest and abdomen are lighter in colour and they have a thick collar of yellow-orange fur around their neck.

Facts

  • Diet: herbivores – frugivores
  • Weight:  80 to 170 grams
  • Wingspan: 60 centimetres
  • Length:  12 to 19 centimetres
  • Habitat: Forest, savanna, shrub-land, grassland, caves and desert
  • Life span:  9 years in the wild; under human care, they can live up to 25 years
  • Sexually dimorphic males are larger than females

Adapted to Survive

  • During winter, when the fruit is scarce, individuals will eat leaves
  • Their eyes are adapted to see with minimal light
  • Individuals spend the hottest hours of the day roosting ( resting)
  • They can use echolocation to navigate

Threats

  • Human-animal conflict
  • Habitat loss

IUCN Conservation Status

Least Concern