About 197 species of megabats, including the flying foxes, the family with the largest bats. Most are nocturnal or active at dusk, eat fruit or nectar, and find food by sight and smell rather than echolocation. Some roost in colonies of up to a million.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Most are nocturnal or out at dusk, though a few fly by day.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?In places
Killed and eaten as bushmeat across its range, especially in Asia.
At a glance
Found inAfrica, Asia, Australia, New Guinea
HabitatRainforest, Forest
ColoursBrown, Black, Gold
SizeSmall
WeightUp to 1.45 kg; a third of species weigh under 50 g
Legs2
Covered inFur
Lives incolonies
Lives for15–30 years
Can fly
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Oceania; Papua New Guinea has the most species.
- What it eats
- Mostly fruit and nectar, plus leaves, pollen, seed pods and sap.
Did you know
Wingspans reach 1.7 metres, and it navigates by sight rather than echolocation.
Some captive megabats have lived more than 30 years.
A quarter of species are threatened, mainly by habitat loss and hunting for food.
Often confused with
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