Foraging and roosting patterns of a repeatedly mass-culled island flying fox reveals opportunities to mitigate human–wildlife conflict

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human–wildlife conflicts (HWC) arising from fruit bats eating commercial fruits is a worsening problem worldwide and is epitomized by the Mauritian flying fox (Pteropus niger), a species threatened with extinction yet repeatedly mass-culled since 2015. Non-lethal solutions for dealing with this HWC are needed, which are rooted in the evidence available. In this study, we tracked the movements of 12 flying fox individuals over two years in order to document the animal’s movement ecology, with a view to deriving recommendations to alleviate the ensuing HWC. We found that flying foxes prefer to forage and roost in forested areas located at elevations < 250 m. However, during the fruiting season of commercial trees, the animals tended to roost closer to and forage more often on commercial fruits during the early hours of the night. These findings have several implications for the improvement of commercial fruit protection, which should in turn alleviate HWC, notably through informing management to take into consideration the spatio-temporal expression of flying fox foraging. Key policy insights Pteropus niger generally prefers to forage and roost in lower-elevation forests (<250 m). Restoring such forests would increase fruit production in those areas and reduce the need for flying foxes to forage on commercial fruits. The nightly foraging pattern of P. niger indicates that the use of active deterrent methods could be optimized by concentrating the efforts primarily during the early hours of the night, when flying foxes’ foraging activity on commercial fruit trees is highest. Information on roost and foraging site distribution may be used to construct a foraging-risk map to inform optimization of crop protection efforts that would contribute towards alleviating the worsening human–wildlife conflict.