Assessing Population Status Roost Site Selection and Fruit Damage by the India Fly fox Pteropus giganteurs in Southern Karnataka: The Flying Foreesters

Abstract

Flying foxes Pteropus giganteus, playa key role in pollination and forest regeneration as seed dispersers. Despite this beneficial role, they are persecuted for being an agricultural pest in commercial orchards. More recently in India, they have been known to be reservoirs of deadly zoonotic diseases like Nipah. Over the past two decades rapid urbanization, leading to habitat and roost tree destruction has resulted in decline in population of the Indian flying fox. As a result, incidence of flying foxes visiting commercial orchards has increased which in tum has led to conflict between large-scale commercial fruit growers and flying foxes. Assessing the present population status, and identifying the habitat preferences could help in understanding the risk of fruit damage in the surrounding areas, and will help in conservation of the keystone species and there by prevent their persecution also. A total of 51 roosts were identified which were used to assess the population status and change over time. Four methods of population estimation were compared to select the most reliable. method. Photographic count method was found to be most reliable for of population estimation. At the landscape level, proximity to water bodies and intensity of urbanization influenced the occurrence of roosts. 11.38 % of the total study are was found to be suitable for roosting (potential habitat). Amongst the individual tree characters, tree GBH and tree height were found to strongly influence the roost selection. In commercial orchards, Pteropus giganteus was found to be responsible for significant amount of damage in orchards cultivating Guava, Mango and Sapota. Based on the extent of damage they were ranked second most important animal pest in these commercial orchards after birds. Further work on estimating actual fruit damages would be required to confirm the role of the Indian flying fox as pest responsible for causing severe fruit damages in commercial orchards, for which they have been constantly persecuted.