Straw-coloured fruit bat: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the straw-coloured fruit bat lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Eidolon helvum
Group	Bats
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Africa
Class	Mammal
Order	Chiroptera
Family	Pteropodidae

Where does the straw-coloured fruit bat live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the straw-coloured fruit bat in 16 countries and territories across Africa. Wikidata gives its range as: Uganda.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the straw-coloured fruit bat endangered?

The straw-coloured fruit bat’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the straw-coloured fruit bat?

The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) is a mammal in the order Chiroptera and the family Pteropodidae, genus Eidolon. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the straw-coloured fruit bat

The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) is a large fruit bat that is the most widely distributed of all the African megabats. It is quite common throughout its area ranging from the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, across forest and savanna zones of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to a decreasing population trend. Straw-coloured fruit bats travel in massive colonies of at least 100,000 bats and sometimes massing up to 1 million. From October to end of December every year, in the largest migration of mammals on the planet, up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats congregate in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, roosting in a 2 hectares (4.9 acres) area of Mushitu forest each day. This migration was only discovered in 1980. Their necks and backs are a yellowish-brown colour, while their undersides are tawny olive or brownish.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Straw-coloured fruit bat (revision 1354404640), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q33108 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).