Information sheet on our Comoro Island project
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Comoro Islands
There are only around 1000 Livingstone's fruit bat left in the wild and they are threatened by habitat destruction, disturbance of their roosts and natural catastrophes such as tropical cyclones.
To ensure that this endangered species is preserved, we are working with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Comorian Government to monitor the remaining fruit bats and provide equipment and funding for Comoro field workers to carry out important groundwork. This and other ecological research is essential for the bat's survival, as well as the protection of the remaining forest area which is under threat from expending agriculture and the local use of timber for fuel and building materials.
Helping one of the rarest bats
Located three hundred kilometres north of Madagascar, the Union of the Comoros comprises of three volcanic islands, each with their distinct fauna and flora.
They have been referred to as the ‘land of the giant bats’ because of the two species of spectacular fruit bats that populate them. Livingstone’s fruit bat (Pteropus livingstonii), one of the largest fruit bats in the world, is found only on two Comorian islands and nowhere else in the world. The latest estimate of population figures is that there are less than 1300 now surviving in the wild.
At Bristol Zoo Gardens, Livingstone's fruit bats are being successfully bred to safeguard their numbers. This method has already proved to be a lifeline for other species in the Indian Ocean. The Rodrigues fruit bat, a neighbour of the Livingstone's species, was bought back from the brink of extinction by captive breeding and the protection and management of habitat.
