A bat of a critically endangered species endemic to Taiwan is believed to have been killed by a predator less than one month after being released back into the wild, the Hualien branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said on Tuesday.
The pteropus dasymallus formosus, called Fubao (蝠寶), was likely killed by a predator on or before Thursday last week after researchers found only remains of the bat and its GPS tracker near what is believed to have been its roost, based on location data collected from the tracker on Friday last week, the branch said.
A two-week-old Fubao was found injured and weighing only 80g in Hualien City in April by a person who took it to the facility.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency Hualien Branch
After being nursed back to health and growing into a 307g adult bat, it was released into the wild on Nov. 12.
To trace its daily activity and chance of survival in the wild, researchers monitored the bat for the first two weeks of its release and ensured it sheltered in an area with low brush cover, the branch said.
However, researchers observed that the bat did not leave its fixed location from noon on Thursday last week to the morning of Friday last week, indicating that it probably died on or before Thursday last week.
After consultations with several experts, it is believed the bat could have been killed by a raptor, the branch said.
It expressed disappointment that the rare bat failed to survive in the wild, but added that the joint efforts of various agencies to treat and care for the mammal prior to its release into the wild was an invaluable experience for those involved.
Green Island was home to the largest population of the bats, with up to 2,000 reportedly living on the island in the 1970s.
However, due to a decline in its habitat, the bat gradually migrated to Kaohsiung, and Taitung, Hualien and Yilan counties, experts said.
The Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute and the Bat Association of Taiwan in April 2005 conducted an investigation of pteropus dasymallus formosus on Green Island (綠島), in which fewer than 10 of the bats were found to exist.
A study by a research team from 2005 to 2009 estimated that only 12 of the bats were still on Green Island.
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