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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Big bats fly towards extinction with hunters in pursuit

Human hunt at least 19% of bat species worldwide — especially flying foxes, which can have wingspans of 1.5 metres.
Close-up of a Mauritian flying fox resting upside-down on a banana plant.

The Mauritian flying fox (Pteroptus niger). As relatively large bats, flying foxes are hunted more heavily than other species. Credit: Fabrice Bettex Photography/Alamy

Large tropical bats with narrow home ranges are disproportionately likely to be hunted by humans, according to a global analysis of 1,320 bat species — nearly all of the 1,400 known to science1.

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Nature 615, 191 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00563-7

References

  1. Tanalgo, K. C., Sritongchuay, T., Agduma, A. R., Dela Cruz, K. C. & Hughes, A. C. Biol. Conserv. 279, 109944 (2023).

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