Pemba Flying Fox
Pemba flying fox was endangered and almost extincted specie endemic to the Pemba island in Tanzania. These very large (up to 650 grammes/one and a half pounds of weight and 1.85 meters/six feet of wingspan) fruit bats were almost totally exterminated for their delicious meat in 1990s. But thanks to Fauna & Flora International organization and its conservation program the population of the Pemba flying foxes have increased form just a several species in the mid 90s to 36 thousands nowadays. However, Pemba fruit bats (scientists call them Pteropus voeltzkowi) status is still vulnerable.
Pemba Flying Fox was posted by Vitali K. on 4th August 2009 as part of the Environment section. Check the front page for the latest posts and follow me on Twitter.
I WANT ONE OF THESE CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE I CAN BUY ONE PLEASE! THANKS =)
You cannot buy endangered species legally.
Fascinating creatures! Thanks for posting.
THOSE ARE GINORMOUS
r u stupid or something joey? u can’t just BUY bat! they’re endangered species u dummy!!! >.
are these creatures prevelant in the middle east cause me and some friends might have seen one zipping around in the sky last night
SSgt, most probably you were a little bit scared – everything seems much bigger when you are scared. There are a number of pretty big bat species are living in middle east but none of them are as gigantic as Pemba flying fox bats.
lol i wasn’t scared me and my friends tried to get closer to see what it was but it flew away pretty fast
Wild animals – whether endangered or not – don’t exist for us to buy and own. Owning exotic animals may be fun for humans but it sucks for the animal to be denied his or her natural environment, instincts, family…
At first I didn’t believe that a bat can get that big. But the I confirmed it with my mom. She said that she’s seen pretty big bats in the Philippines.
yea, except, that exotic pets if kept properly almost dubble their life spans in captivity
EVERYONE SHUT UP DONT BE MEAN GOSH UR STUPID PEOPLE ARENT U!?!
Awesome
HOW CAN I GO AND ISEE THE BAT OF PEMBA HOPE IS VERY INTRESTING TO WATCH THE FLYING FOX
can i see a pemba flying fox in devon england anywher? { i do mean in captivity}
Matthew, try London Zoo.
I don’t care if its illegal… I want to try their “delicious meat”!!!
Im down for some fox meat!
i hope abe and joey get their testicles cut off and get them shoved down their throats.
Thats not very funny to be talking about killing and eating such unique aniamals like that, i agree with dwwd. But i discovered this aniamal while doing a science project and i just can’t believe how huge and cute they are. But if you people look at an animal that’s really interesting and different look up, aye-aye.
Im gonna have some batmeat when going to Africa this summer. Me and the bats. Former bats. Now known as batstew. Maybe I’ll bring a pair of small ones back home.
If the meat really is delicious.
Everything dies eventually, whether we eat it or it gets killed.
The more you know.
what d fuck, wat r u finking, killing and eating these lovely animals? u 2 suck, and i mean seriously… what r u finking about? u must be mental
u r seriously crazy… hello? earth callin 2 joey and abe?
Dees BATS IS AWSOME!!!
this bat is supper this is one of the endangered species thanks for the protecting the bats………………….thanks a lot
These are wild animals and should be left in the wild. However, they are bred in captivity and there are quite of few in the US. Most people who do have them in their possession, do so, because they are different, not for the well-being of the animal. They are best left in the wild and admired for afar.
I WANT SOME BAT MEAT
I think dat da bats r big lol
hi um i think if i saw them i would scream if i could
i dont care but it is interesting but i dont know for sure that the bat is that big
Some great pictures there, would love to meet these critters :)
Oh, and all the talk about bat meat is just feeding the trolls ;-) Don’t feed the trolls people, certainly don’t feed them bat meat.
i am night hanter i eat vampire bone and eat in pemba
(ndongo au jiwe)
If they were carnivores, I would be scared, luckily, they only eat fruit.
i seen bigger bat
Hey, don’t take everything too seriously on the net. I’m sure Joey and Abe were most likely pulling your leg [although they probably do want to try the meat... I mean who wouldn't, they make it sound so good], but just chill. Animals get eaten all the time and I’m sure one of them suckers could feed me, Abe and Joey. :)
This is the real Batman.
Those bats are super cool! do you think that someday they will get big enough for humans to ride them. I once read a book and it had humans riding bats, do you think the author got this idea from these big bats?
Where in the US can we see these bats?
>> Where in the US can we see these bats?
In the Phoenix Zoo. They have breeding in captivity program for the large bats including Pemba flying foxes.
are there other resons that they were on the endangerd list please tell me
the meat is very tasty. yummi
I love flying foxs they turn me on they are amazingly big and the get me hard
its the mothman :D
OMG It’s a monster!
omg thats so freaking big
omg is so freaking big
Omg its giant yet awesome if they had it to where you could see it I would want to pet it just to say I did
i saw one of these huge flying foxes last night, i was amazed to see that you get bats as big as that.. (Sri Lanka) i,m from South Africa and we dont have these kinda bats there.
Am I the only one scared still?
that could kill someone if it wanted to
We eat them lol
me and my wife live in australia and we eat pemba flying fox meat every now and then… it makes a real good chili
I think Jonathan needs to come out of the closet ^^^^ Jonathan, we all know your “wife” with whom you supposedly eat pemba with does not exist. Come clean mate, and admit you like cock. There, don’t you feel better? I’ll be over for chilli later luv.
This is FREAKING AWSOM! I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THIES BATS WERE REAL! I READ ABOUT THEM IN A BOOK! :) TOATALY AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (but supossedly they are canibals)
my wife IS a man.. she used to be a woman. we also fuck bats in the ass, come over and ill show you
I think this comment site needs a monitor so jerks cannot post asinine comments.
These beautiful creatures are for us to admire and learn from. They have more love and respect for us than we for them. Shame on you meat eatin pigs. This site does in fact need monitoring from death threats and obscene ideas.
God, these comments depress me.
I’ve seen flying fox bats at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, USA; and what fascinated me the most was a young one that kept poking at an older one. It was like he was trying to play. Who knew, young bats are just like kids!
i am amazed at the size of that thing
It’s, just wow, its cool! i want one ;)
We found a skeleton of an animal that resembles the flying fox. It was found in Mississippi. Have these flying foxes been documented in Mississippi?
shari, try to ask at your local paleo museum. They should know for sure. Also, experienced paleontologist would say better if the skeleton you’ve dug up is an ancient or modern one.
well , once they get un-endangered we could have em as pets… i totally want one , they have ferret like faces and eat fruit , and are gigantic!!! plus they are fairly smart. i dunno about eating them tho , they would put em in big macs and shit and live in factory farms and that would be shitty. but they seem friiendly…
HOLY FUDGE FIRST PICTURE O________________________O It’s like… just… absolutely amazing. I would run away and pee my pants if I saw it coming near me lol. It looks like a human but face is as an animal. fantastic.
is the first picture for real?
First off I would like to say to anyone wishing to harm these magnificent creatures to be tortured endlessly and fed to pygmies. Namely this Joey individual whom seems to excessively brain dead in matters. Abe seems to just be jumping on a bandwagon do to low self-esteem and a small dick complex.
My next point is the hopes to one day recreate a small habitat and help raise a few of these amazing creatures. Granted I know the impossibilities of such a wish, and also the controversy some have of others keeping exotic and rare creatures. However, I wish to raise them entirely, a small clutch of eggs and keep them until adulthood, finding ways to keep them use to their natural developments. Maybe only keep one to adore and take care of. After all these are very adorable creatures.
My final point is this, to those whom find raising exotic animals as wrong it all depends on one’s intent or purpose. One doing so just cause they can afford and to flaunt off their newest “Investment” should not be allowed to purchase these animals. On the other hand one whom would sell their soul to raise and cherish one of these rare animals, that is different. I personally would not find it easy to raise one due to low funds but if I was ever blessed with the chance to care for them I would make it worth it every day.
To all who read this thank you and have a good day. Sincerely, Zidourn
Mmmm bat meat
@ Zidourn….did you say EGGS?!?!? lol.
Kill it now before it starts looking for revenge
Are you all nuts. have you ever heard of zoonotic diseases. Bats like many other animals should be left where they are. Not even transported for zoos ore research purposes. In fact we should leave them alone and stay well away from them.
I would like to remind the idiots who suggested eating this bat that the most probable origin of today’s HIV pandemic most likely originated from some brainless people who thought it would be nice to eat monkey meat in the jungles of africa. Turns out it was not a very good Idea, or was it? Also the very pathogenic Ebola virus is probably leaving in the gut of some animal just waiting for stupid people like you to go and eat it get it and spread it around.
Wow some people are just a little Dramatic
What is the difference between using vulgar language and suggest vulgar practices?
Today I learned that eating is vulgar…
I constantly hear are these hippies saying you can’t eat this, you can’t eat that. I caught a Jew Fish a couple years ago, and i recently heard a hippie say “you can’t eat them”, he couldn’t of been more wrong cause the one I ate tasted just fine! In fact it kind of tasted like Whooping Crane.
Um, they weren’t “eating” the monkey, they were b@^&) it… and damn you are a dram queen!
Am I the only one who finds “Zidourn” to be extremely creepy??? I, mean like keep your kids and pets away form this guy, creepy? Maybe we look into a restraining order to protect all the animals on the planet…
Zidourn, seriously… that was CREEPY!!!
I am amazed when I read posts about killing these wonderful bats, not funny. If the poster is serious, shame on them. I agree with Debra, monitor the posts and eliminate the asinine comments or give us the option to report.
>> monitor the posts and eliminate the asinine comments
Censorship is bad.
Ya’ll need a hobby. Bye bye.
I so enjoy the intellectual discussion on here! : )
I think this animal should be protected and I would love to see one up close in their own environment, not in captivity. To the people that say you want to eat them you are sick and need to be shot.
MLH, why so bloodthirsty?
Zidourn: “I wish to raise them entirely, a small clutch of eggs”.
Are you sure you know enough about bats and their eggs in order to raise them successfully? Please be certain to put your bats’ eggs in an incubator. They’re brown and cigar shaped, a bit like dogs’ eggs.
I like turtles.
they are awesome awesome…………………..
I wonder how they taste deepfried?
i wish i could to hug one!they are huge but SO cute!!!!!!!
read this whole thing, laughed a bit, and just have to say ONE minor thing. the HIV/AIDS epidemic’s ‘documented cause’ was from humans eating raw monkey brains, not doin the freaky-deaky with them. But, nobody, not even the most educated doctors dedicated to finding a cure to the disease, know exactly where it came from or how it started. just spreading the knowledge.
That is just so scary, if it’s real.
i wonder how it would taste in burger?
There are some sick people out there that need to be put into captivity-ie mental homes.
We need these very unique bats. the different species of bats, some pollinate plants, others eat the bugs and mosquitoes that are dangerous to humans. Some plants are pollinated only by bats so they are precious to our flora. Dont condemn something you dont understand. We need bats for human survival.
>> We need bats for human survival
99% of species ever lived on Earth are gone now, and we are still here. Let’s call things what they are. We don’t need them for our survival, we need them for our comfort and amusement.
That’s totally enough for me, but apparently eco-minded people need more pathos to build up their motivation.
Does anyone read this site and remove the disgusting, abusive remarks? Does anyone read what they wrote before hitting “Submit Comment”? MOST of the previous commenters either cannot form a complete, grammatically correct sentence, or don’t know how to use correct punctuation. I mene, reely foks, sireously, Kan you Read and Right? This is one of the poorest displays of “good” English skills that I have seen.
>> Does anyone read this site and remove the disgusting, abusive remarks?
Freedom of speech means people have the right to express the opinions you don’t like. Democracy is tough, isn’t it?
Makes me think of Jeepers Creepers. But still super amazing and very interesting, might have to study up on these animals.
We always have big bats in the Philippines especially in Subic Bay, in fact we have a dedicated place in here called the Bat Kingdom, there the bats hanging on the tree while morning and foraging in the evening. Bats are really helpful nurturing Subic Bay’s forest because they scattered fruits in way of consuming these fruits and then they excrete the seeds leaving them fertilized on the ground so that when time comes and these seeds dries up and planted on the soil, eventually it will bear fruits for the another generation of bats. Bats and forest go hand in hand.
i guess its fake.. how can be this bat fly.. its so large and heavy ..
The 1st picture looks like a big bat but if you look closer it is just an optical illusion and that bat appears huge because it is close to the camera and not close to the man as it appears.
The 1st picture looks like a big bat but if you look closer it is just an optical illusion and that bat appears huge because it is close to the camera and not close to the man as it appears.
<—this, i mean how blind are you folks you can clearly see that the man in the picture is far away from the bat and in no way should be taken in consideration of the bats size…