Bats are among the most misunderstood animals on the planet. Because they are active at night, we don't often see the many points of contact between bats and humans, but it turns out that Bats are an essential part of our daily lives!

Small insectivorous bats (more than 1,000 different species worldwide) they eat billions of insects every night, serving as the best natural form of pest control by catching mosquitoes and moths that pester humans and destroy crops. Bat guano is rich in nutrients and is used to fertilize soil all over the world. Large fruit- and nectar-eating bats pollinate fruit trees as they move from flower to flower, and they disperse seeds across the landscape as they fly. These seeds can grow into new fruit or forest trees, and in this way, bats help maintain a healthy ecosystem.

There are ten species of bats in the Comoros., eight of which are found in Anjouan: five small insectivorous bats and three fruit bats. Among the fruit bats, the Seychelles flying fox (Pteropus seychellensis) is easily spotted on the island, as it likes to perch in large groups near fruit trees. The Comoros flying fox (Rousettus obliviosus), which is much smaller and gray-brown in color, lives in caves and only emerges at night to feed on nectar. The most iconic bat in the Comoros archipelago has to be the third species of fruit bat: Livingstone’s fruit bat. (Livingston's fruit bat). This large, dark bat is found only on Anjouan and Mohéli, where it roosts in small groups in the mountains. It is highly threatened, as the species is losing its natural habitat: the Comorian cloud forests.

Since 2012, we have been working on the protection of the Livingstone’s fruit bat population on Anjouan.  Two bat counts are carried out each year. to monitor population trends, we have established conservation agreements with landowners who have bat roosts on their fields. These roosts are large, old trees that the landowners have agreed not to cut down so that the bats will have a place to stay in the future. Since 2018, in collaboration with theUniversity of the Comoros and Bat Conservation InternationalWe are tracking individual fruit bats using GPS collars to understand how these animals use the landscape: where are the trees that are important for feeding and roosting? And how do these bats contribute to a healthy landscape?

This research is necessary to enable communities to protect and regenerate bat populations and to ensure that this Comorian treasure is preserved for future generations.

Learn more about initiatives for monitoring fruit bats !