Dobsonia chapmani
Found primarily on Negros Island and in small pockets on Cebu, the Philippine Naked-backed Fruit Bat is a large megabat with a distinctive physical trait. Its wings connect at the center of its back, which gives the animal a hairless appearance and makes it a highly maneuverable flier. These bats weigh between 125 and 143 g and measure 218 to 221 mm from the nose to the tail. They prefer to roost in the deep gloom of limestone caves found within the forest.
At night, these bats emerge to feed on various fruits, playing a vital role in spreading seeds across the landscape. Their diet includes fruit from native trees like tubug and batino, but they also forage in agricultural clearings for coconuts and abacá. While colonies once reached sizes of 400 individuals, the population declined sharply when lowland forests were cleared for sugar cane plantations. Today, only about 60 ha. of their forest habitat remains on Cebu, and much of this land lacks formal protection.
Beyond habitat loss, these bats face ongoing pressure from hunters who seek them for their meat. Because the remaining populations are so small, the species is also vulnerable to low genetic diversity and potential disruptions to breeding caused by climate change. On Cebu, local coordinators now patrol cave sanctuaries to monitor hunting and habitat changes. However, on Negros Island, no specific conservation measures are currently in place to protect the surviving bats from further decline.
Written from the English Wikipedia article Philippine naked-backed fruit bat (CC BY-SA 4.0).
These are open occurrence records, so they show where people looked for and recorded the Philippine Naked-backed Fruit Bat as much as where it lives. Cells are up to 25 km across, and every location is generalised to its cell.
Where and when you can expect to see Philippine Naked-backed Fruit Bat is calculated from observation density. No zones have been computed for this species yet.