Foraging of the Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx on banana in shops and on the pieces dropped by monkeys at a temple

Abstract

The Indian Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx fed on the pieces of banana fruit that were dropped by monkeys on the tower of a temple and in nearby shops. The monkeys obtained fruits from devotees and shop owners. The peak number of bat visits occurred during pre- and post- midnight hours at the tower and shops, respectively, coinciding with the lights off situation and reduced human disturbance. The bats landed on bunches of ripe bananas hanging in the front of shops. The number of bat landings on the tower was greater than that in the shops. The overall number of bat visits were higher during October when compared to other periods of the year. This may be due to the occurrence of more festivals during October. Our study is an example of opportunistic feeding, in which banana pieces dropped while monkeys were feeding on them were eaten by the bats.

Keywords

• Anthropogenic environment, banana, conservation, Cynopterus sphinx, monkey, opportunistic feeding, temple