The short-nosed fruit bat occurs in Hong Kong woodlands and parks, feeds at night on fruit and nectar, and males make tent-like shelters beneath palm leaves.
It has large eyes and a face often compared with a puppy. Males are usually larger and have orange-tinted collars; females are smaller and have yellowish-brown collars.
During a 20-month study in India, researchers captured and observed Greater Short-nosed Fruit Bats to examine the social ties formed around their roosts. There were 134 captures representing 113 individual bats. The study recorded how individuals gathered and whether they used more than one roosting place.
The researchers analyzed 47 usable social observations. Associations were flexible and included multiple males and females rather than fixed harems. Individual bats used more than one roost and showed greater fidelity to an area than to a particular roost. The study linked roost use with changing group associations.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The study found flexible group associations and use of multiple roosts, with stronger fidelity to an area than to a single roost.