Zenker's fruit bat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Zenker's fruit bat |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Scotonycteris
|
| Species: |
zenkeri
|
 |
|
| Zenker's fruit bat range | |
The Zenker's fruit bat (Scotonycteris zenkeri) is a small bat. People also call it the Tear-drop bat. It belongs to a group of large bats called megabats. These bats live in warm, wet places. They like tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and swampy areas.
Contents
What Does Zenker's Fruit Bat Look Like?
This fruit bat is very small. It has light-colored lips. You can also spot three white patches on its head. One patch is on its forehead. The other two are behind each eye.
Its fur is soft and thick. The fur on its back is medium brown or rusty brown. Its sides are grayish-brown. The chest and belly are whitish or light gray. The hairs on its belly are thinner and stiffer.
The bat's wings are brown or greenish-brown. It does not have a noticeable tail.
Where Do Zenker's Fruit Bats Live?
This fruit bat lives only in certain parts of tropical West and Central Africa. Its home range includes several countries. These are Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. It also lives in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Bioko Island. You can find it in Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
However, it does not live everywhere in these countries. It is found only in specific places. Many of these spots are far apart. This is especially true in the Congo Basin. Zenker's fruit bat often lives in the same areas as the Pohle's fruit bat.
Preferred Homes of the Zenker's Fruit Bat
These bats like different types of forests. They live in old, untouched rainforests. They also live in newer, regrowing forests. Mangrove forests, forest edges, and clearings are also good homes. Sometimes, they live in gardens.
They can be found where forests meet grasslands. But they avoid large areas where trees have been cut down. Most Zenker's fruit bats live below 800 meters (2,600 feet) high. Some can be found up to 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) high. This is on the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. In the Congo Basin, they often live in damaged forests. These are places where a plant called Haumania liebrechtsiana grows a lot.
What Do Zenker's Fruit Bats Do?
This type of bat is rare in many places. Scientists use mist nets to catch bats for study. In Taï National Park in Ivory Coast, only about 3.6% of bats caught were Zenker's fruit bats. This made it the sixth most common bat out of eight species found there.
Zenker's fruit bats are most active at certain times. They are busy between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. Then they are active again from 2:00 AM to 4:30 AM. Pohle's fruit bat is active during the hours in between.
What Do Zenker's Fruit Bats Eat?
Scientists do not know exactly what these bats eat. They seem to look for food both high in the trees and closer to the ground. Near Mount Richard-Molard, they eat fruits. They are known to eat fruits from Solanum torvum and Solanum erianthum. This happens from July to September.
