Movements of Indian Flying Fox in Myanmar as a Guide to Human-Bat Interface Sites

Abstract

Frugivorous bats play a vital role in tropical ecosystems as pollinators and seed dispersers but are also important vectors of zoonotic diseases. Myanmar sits at the intersection of numerous bioregions and contains habitats that are important for many endangered and endemic species. This rapidly developing country also forms a connection between hotspots of emerging human diseases. We deployed Global Positioning System collars to track the movements of 10 Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus) in the agricultural landscapes of central Myanmar. We used clustering analysis to identify foraging sites and high-utilization areas.As part of a larger viral surveillance study in bats of Myanmar, we also collected oral and rectal swab samples from 29 bats to test for key emerging viral diseases in this colony. There were no positive results detected for our chosen viruses. We analyzed their foraging movement behavior and evaluated selected foraging sites for their potential as human-wildlife interface sites.

A cross-sectional survey on fruit bat-human interaction in Pakistan; one health perspective

“…The Indian flying fox is a common fruit bat species in the Indian subcontinent and is capable of flying long distances for daily foraging [ 39 ]. These bats have an important role as pollinators and long-distance seed dispersers in tropical ecosystems by chewing fruit, obtaining juice and pulp, then spitting seeds [ 40 ].…”

Home ranges, directionality and the influence of moon phases on the movement ecology of Indian flying fox males in southern India

“…In P. giganteus, colony sizes vary across the year, reaching a peak during the breeding season ( Mathur et al, 2012 ; Mishra et al, 2020 ). Short-range shifts from a central roost to secondary roosts for 2 to 3 days have been reported in male P. giganteus in Myanmar ( McEvoy et al, 2021 ). There were at least four known roost sites within a 20 km radius around my study colony but we did not find any tracked individuals in these alternate roosts after they went missing from the study roost.…”

“…However, we found that an adult male moved to a second roosting site ∼108 km away, indicating long-distance movement between colonies in P. giganteus males. Based on the information from P. giganteus males from my site and from Myanmar ( McEvoy et al, 2021 ), we suggest that a possible reason for the variation in colony sizes could be the movement of males between roosts for the purpose of mating. However, this hypothesis requires confirmation from more roosts and individuals.…”

“…A radio-tracking study on two individuals of this species in Sri Lanka reported a larger foraging range in an adult female compared to an immature male ( Walton and Trowbridge, 1983 ). A more recent GPS tracking study from Myanmar has compared movement patterns of ten P. giganteus males for up to 3 months to understand their land use in human-modified landscapes in an epidemiological context ( McEvoy et al, 2021 ).…”

Foraging and mating behaviors of Hypsignathus monstrosus at the bat‐human interface in a central African rainforest

“…Among them, fruit bats are important hosts of emerging viruses (Calisher et al, 2006), some of which were involved in severe and recent outbreaks in human populations (Cappelle et al, 2020; Sharma et al, 2019). Fruit bat species display highly diversified daily foraging activity patterns (e.g., visiting one or several foraging areas with varying duration and re‐visitation rates; McEvoy et al, 2021; Schloesing et al, 2020) and mating systems (mainly polygamous using a central place such as harems and leks; Crichton & Krutzsch, 2000). These movements within human‐modified ecosystems must be better understood from an ecological and epidemiological perspective.…”