Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-10T15:50:16.950Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Flying foxes on Choiseul (Solomon Islands) – the need for conservation action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

E. Bowen-Jones ,
D. Abrutat ,
B. Markham  and
S. Bowe
E. Bowen-Jones
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
D. Abrutat
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
B. Markham
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
S. Bowe
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Choiseul 1995 project spent 6 months studying the Chiroptera of Choiseul, one of the least disturbed and most poorly known islands in the Solomons. Among the results were: the rediscovery of a member of the Megachiropteran genus Pteralopex, which had been thought possibly extinct; a new record of another endemic pteropodid with a limited distribution; and evidence of a decline in the ‘commonest’ member of the family in the archipelago. The threats, present and future, to these animals and the forests of the island are discussed. An overview of the status of Pteralopex spp. in the Solomons provides an insight into the need for conservation action in the country as a whole.

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1997 , pp. 209 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1997

References

Andersen, K. 1909. Two new bats from the Solomon Islands. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London, (8) 3, 266–270.Google Scholar
Bowen-Jones, E., Abrutat, D., Markham, W. and Bowe, S. 1996. Report of the Bristol University, Choiseul 1995, Survey of Fruit Bats on Choiseul, Solomon Islands. Unpublished. University of BristolGoogle Scholar
Cox, P.A., Elmquist, T., Pierson, E.D. and Rainey, W.E. 1992. Flying Foxes as pollinators and seed dispersers in Pacific island ecosystems. In Pacific Island Flying Foxes: Proceeding of an International Conservation Conference (eds Wilson, D. E. and Graham, G. L.), pp. 18–23. US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report 90 (23). US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Fisher, D. 1992. Investigation of the Ecology of a New Species of Monkey-faced Bat from the Solomon Islands. Unpublished report, Mammal Section, Australian MuseumGoogle Scholar
Flannery, T.F. 1990. Flying foxes in Melanesia: populations at risk. Bats, 7, 5–7.Google Scholar
Flannery, T.F. 1991. A new species of Pteralopex (Chiroptera: Pteropididae) from montane Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Records of the Australian Museum, 43, 123–130.Google Scholar
Flannery, T.F. 1993. Revision of the fruit bats of the genus Melonycteris (Pteropodidae: Mammalia) Records of the Australian Museum, 45, 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, T.F. 1995. Mammals of the Southwest Pacific and Moluccan Islands. Australian Museum/Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW.Google Scholar
Kunz, Th. 1988. Ecological and Behavioural Methods for the Study of Bats. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Leary, T. and Aujare, I. 1994. Review of the Status and Distribution of Pteropus Flying Foxes in Solomon Islands and a Preliminary Assessment of Fruit Crop Damage in Temotu Province. The Nature Conservancy, Honiara Field Office, Solomon Islands.Google Scholar
McKean, J.L. 1972. Notes on some Collections of Bats from Papua New Guinea and Bougainville Island. CSIRO Division, of Wildlife Research Technical Paper No. 26.Google Scholar
Mickleburgh, S.P., Hutson, A.M. and Racey, P.A. 1992. Old World Fruit Bats: an Action Plan for their Conservation. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutere, F.A. 1980. Eidolon helvum revisited. In Proceedings 5th International Bat Research Conference (eds. Wilson, D. E. and Gardner, A. L.), pp.145–150. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T.C. 1966. Guide to the Forests of the British Solomon Islands. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar