Monitoring hunted species of cultural significance: Estimates of trends, population sizes and harvesting rates of flying-fox (Pteropus sp.) in New Caledonia

Abstract

Assessing population trends and their underlying factors is critical to propose efficient conservation actions. This assessment can be particularly challenging when dealing with highly mobile, shy and nocturnal animals such as flying-foxes. Here we investigated the dynamics of hunted populations of Pteropus ornatus and P. tonganus in the Northern Province of New Caledonia. First, an ethno-ecological survey involving 219 local experts identified 494 flying-fox roosts. Current status was assessed for 379 of them, among which 125 were no longer occupied, representing a loss of 33% over ca. 40 years. Second, species-specific counts conducted at 35 roosts, and a sample of animals killed by hunters, revealed that the endemic species, P. ornatus, was dominant (68.5%). Between 2010 and 2016, 30 roosts were counted annually during the pre-parturition period. Roosts size averaged 1,425 ± 2,151 individuals (N = 180 counts) and showed high among-year variations (roost-specific CV = 37–162%). If we recorded significant inter-annual variation, we did not detect a significant decline over the 7-yr period, although one roost went possibly extinct. Population size of the two species combined was estimated at 338,000−859,000 individuals distributed over ca. 400 roosts in the Northern Province. Flying-foxes are popular game species and constitute traditional food for all communities of New Caledonia. Annual bags derived from a food survey allowed us to estimate harvesting rates at 5–14%. Such a level of harvesting for species with a ‘slow’ demography, the occurrence of poaching and illegal trade, suggest the current species use might not be sustainable and further investigations are critically needed.

Implications of seed traits for restoration of ultramafic plant taxa from the Goro plateau in the subtropical hotspot of New Caledonia

“…Flying foxes are important dispersers (13 taxa in our study) in disturbed landscapes and often help disperse seeds between forest fragments or in the regenerating matrix over long distances (Bollen et al 2004). Unfortunately, both Ducula goliath and the flying foxes of the genus Pteropus are threatened by illegal overhunting (Mickleburgh et al 1992; Barré & Dutson 2000; Oedin et al 2018). Our findings lend support to the view that flying foxes and large pigeons (especially those belonging to the Ducula genus) deserve protection due to their importance as dispersers of medium to large fruits over medium to long distances, as advocated by Thomson et al (2011).…”

Make flying-fox hunting sustainable again: Comparing expected demographic effectiveness and hunters’ acceptance of more restrictive regulations

“…Here, we lumped the two species together. We applied the same method as Oedin et al (2019) to estimate total population size (both species combined) for New Caledonia.…”

“…Trade and hunting at night or directly under a roost are prohibited. Flying-foxes are hunted mainly with shotguns at dusk when leaving their diurnal roost (pass-shooting) but also illegally at night with spotlights when the bats are foraging (Oedin et al 2019).…”

“…We estimated survival rates from a life table analysis of age-at-death data (Udevitz and Gogan 2012). We assumed a stable age structure and used a population growth rate k = 0.99 to account for the likely decline of the flying-fox population (Oedin et al 2019). Exponential models with variable mortality hazards were fitted to age-at-death data (Appendix S5).…”

Global Medicinal Use of Bats: A Systematic Literature and Social Media Review

“…Intentional biological use is listed as a threat to 125 of the 1332 bat species currently assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [2], and hunting is acknowledged as a direct driver of extinction of at least two species [5,6] and implicated in the loss of others (e.g., [7]). Bats are particularly vulnerable to any form of harvesting because they are long-lived and the majority of species give birth to just a single pup per year, resulting in low reproductive rates [8,9] that cannot compensate for current hunting levels [10][11][12], particularly in populations already declining as a result of habitat loss. With over 1450 species described [13], bats are an important component of global mammalian diversity and perform critical ecosystem services as agents of pest suppression, pollination, and seed dispersal [14][15][16][17].…”