Abstract A questionnaire survey and literature review
revealed the extent of hunting of bats for bushmeat in
the Old World tropics. High levels of offtake were reported
throughout Asia, the Pacific islands and some Western
Indian Ocean islands, where fruit bats of the genus
Pteropus are eaten extensively. Most hunting in Africa was
reported in western states and the largest fruit bat Eidolon
helvum was preferred. Insectivorous bats are also eaten,
particularly Tadarida in Asia. Hunting is both for local
consumption and commercial, sometimes involving crossborder
transactions. The high levels of hunting reported
and the low reproductive rate of bats indicate there are
likely to be severe negative effects on bat populations, and
declines of several species are documented. Although there
has been only one reported attempt to manage offtake, this
indicates that it is possible and apparently successful. Furthermore,
voluntary controls on hunting have halted declines
in bat numbers. There have been several initiatives
to reduce hunting pressure and conserve threatened bat
species, mainly on islands that, when sustained, have been
successful. More education projects and community-based
conservation initiatives should be encouraged together
with further attempts at sustainable harvesting in situations
where disease risk has been evaluated.
Keywords Bats, bushmeat, commercial hunting, Eidolon,
Pteropus, sustainability, Tadarida.
This paper contains supplementary material that can be
found online at http://journals.cambridge.org
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