A Paper Review: Diversity, Conservation and Management of Fruit Bats (Family Pteropodidae) Inhabiting the Tropical Forests of Southeast Asian Region

Abstract

This paper has reviewed on the extent of various studies conducted to describe the diversity of fruit bats (Family Pteropodidae), its conservation and management in the tropical forests of Southeast Asian Region. The study was anchored on synthesizing published articles from February to May 2022 through data banking using keywords: bats, fruit bats, fruit bat diversity, conservation management, tropical forests with regards to the respective country. Results showed that diversity of fruit bats (Family Pteropodidae) inhabiting the tropical forest of Southeast Asia has a total of 99 fruit bat species with a total of 19 conservation initiatives undertaken. These included population conservation, protection and management of their food sources and habitats. Generally, majority of the studies all throughout Southeast Asia revealed the presence of adversely affected bat communities after forest disturbance and destruction. The study recommend further research in some countries of Southeast Asia, some specific study on fruit bats should include ectoparasitism, vectors of infectious diseases like rabies and other viruses, and other studies, some studies should be conducted as well for other bat families like insectivorous and nectarivorous bats, strict implementation of laws and legislations focused on protecting fruit bats, their food sources and habitats, and the entire forest ecosystem, and in situ fruit bat initiatives like increasing the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign such as no direct killing and commercialization.