BATS OF
SOUTHERN
AFRICA

#Eidolon dupreanum ,  The Madagascan fruit bat is a species of bat in the family Pteropodidae.  It is endemic to Madagascar and is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN because it is hunted as bushmeat.  it mainly consumes fruit but also feeds on the flowers of Eucalyptus spp.. It was found to fly as far as 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to reach trees of Polyscias spp. while largely neglecting the guava trees Psidium near its roost. 

#Miniopterus manavi , A bat in the genus Miniopterus.  First described in 1906, this species was later included in the mainland African M. minor. A 1995 revision united populations of small Miniopterus from Madagascar and the Comoros as M. manavi, but molecular and morphological studies in 2008 and 2009 showed that this concept of M. manavi in fact included five different species.  

#Macronycteris commersoni ,  Also known as Commerson's leaf-nosed bat, is a species of bat endemic to Madagascar. Populations are threatened by deforestation and hunting. The bats are particularly vulnerable to hunting as they emerge from roosting sites at dusk. Large harvests of them are apparently taken throughout west Madagascar wherever their roosting sites are in proximity to settlements

#Rousettus aegyptiacus ,  The Egyptian fruit bat or Egyptian rousette is a species of megabat that is found in Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Indian subcontinent. It is one of three Rousettus species with an African-Malagasy range, though the only species of its genus found on continental Africa.

#Epomophorus crypturus ,  The Peters's epauletted fruit bat is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is in riverine or evergreen forest, or moist woodland, where there are fruit-bearing trees.

#Pteropus rufus ,  The Madagascan flying fox, Madagascar flying-fox, or Madagascar fruit bat is a species of megabat in the genus Pteropus. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It eats figs and other fruits, flowers, and leaves.

#Taphozous mauritianus ,  A species of sac-winged bat in the family Emballonuridae that is found in central and southern Africa and Madagascar. It was discovered in 1818 by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and is characterized by an all-white ventral surface, grizzled dorsal coloration, and conical face. It has exceptionally good eyesight, a trait which is common in old world bats and enables it to find roosting locations. 

#Eidolon helvum ,  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. 

#Epomophorus wahlbergi ,  A species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is commonly found across southern Africa. Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat is brown to tawny colored with white hair patches at the base of the ears. Males are typically darker in coloration than females. This species is named for erectable epaulettes of hair that form around large scent glands in males only.