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VOL. 8, ISSUE 4 (2023)
Diet of Indian flying fox Pteropus giganteus (Brünnich, 1782) in Bhavnagar and Ghogha Taluka, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India
Authors
Shailesh Dihora, Pravinsang Dodia
Abstract
Chiropterans, the second vast groups of mammals in the planet which
divided in to two group namely megachiroptera and microchiroptera. More than
1400 species representing a zone of the kingdom of Animalia, in which India
favoured enough to have 120 bat species. In India, pteropodidae family consist
14 species and out of the 14 only 3 species of fruit bat reported in Gujarat. Pteropus
giganteus is the most dominant species among this 3 fruit bat species. A feeding
and foraging study of the diet of Pteropus giganteus in selected two taluka
of Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India was carried out during March 2020 to March
2021. Diet of Pteropus giganteus was discover by using the guano/bolus,
additional leftover fruits and leaves under the roost sites. Total 28 species
of flora were identified as the food plants of Pteropus giganteus. Maximum
number of food plants were recorded from different feeding and roosting sites
of Ghogha (26) whereas Bhavnagar provided the minimum number of food plants (23).
Among the food plant species, Ficus benghalensis, Manilkara zapota
and Ficus racemosa were the primary food plants of Indian Flying Fox
followed by Terminalia catappa, Psidium guajava, Ficus religiosa, Azadirachta
indica, Plant species namely Syzygium cumini, Ziziphus mauritiana,
Tamarindus indica, Spondias pinnata, used minimum. It was notice that Pteropus
giganteus in the study sites favour the ripe fruits rather than the unripe
fruits. Indian Flying Fox be depended on mostly fruits (80%) and also ingest
other food items like nectar (3%), tender (3%), leaves (10%) and flower (4%). Most
Significantly Pteropus giganteus predominantly ingest more foods from
the cultivated plants species than the other wild plants species and it directs
the bats to have dispute with farmers. Pteropus giganteus is categorized
in schedule II of Wildlife (protection) Act in the country and Least concern
(LC) as per IUCN list of threatened species.
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Pages:65-70
How to cite this article:
Shailesh Dihora, Pravinsang Dodia "Diet of Indian flying fox <i>Pteropus giganteus</i> (Brünnich, 1782) in Bhavnagar and Ghogha Taluka, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India". International Journal of Zoology Studies, Vol 8, Issue 4, 2023, Pages 65-70
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