The Bats of Subic Bay

Golden Crowned Flying Fox

We were able to take some shots of the bats of Subic Bay during our visit there last September 21, 2009.

It took a while before we finally found them, having driven as far as Cubi point. We almost gave up actually, but on our drive back we found hundreds of these giant bats hanging from very tall trees along the road beside the former FedEx compound. Boy, were we glad to have found them.

The bats were huge and there were a lot of them in the trees patiently waiting for sunset to feed.

More on that Subic vacation here.

SUBIC BAY'S FLYING FOXES

This camp of over 10,000 fruit bats, readily seen at the Subic Bay Freeport, is one of the last large bat colonies of its kind. Found only in the Philippines, the Golden Crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus) and the Philippine Giant Fruit Bat (Pteropus vampyrus lanensis) are the largest bats in the world, with wingspans up to 2 meters. Bats such as these eat only plants and are critically important to the health of tropical forests in the Philippines.

By dispersing the seeds of forest fruits and spreading pollen between the forest flowers they visit, fruit bats maintain and restore forests by aiding in the reproduction of forest plants. Many fruit crops important to people, such as durian, wild banana, and kapok, also rely on fruit bats for their reproduction. Their cute, puppy-like faces add to their appeal. Despite this, fruit bats are heavily hunted, and the loss of their forest homes has made many of these bats endangered with extinction.

Source: http://www.travelph.com/resorts/Subic/

More bats on the roost...

Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50