Fulvous Fruit Bat Populations from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab

Bats are the least studied group of small mammals that constitute a quarter of all known mammalian species of the country. These creatures are extremely beneficial and provide a number of ecological services. The fruit bats are especially important in maintaining forest diversity and four species of fruit bats are reported from Pakistan. However, they are blamed to be the orchard destroyers and farmer enemies in many parts of the country and are killed by the local people. The present study provides the recent records of fulvous fruit bat with a morphological comparison of the species from two provinces of Pakistan having altitudinal differences which will help bat biologists and conservation agencies to know the new distribution records of the species and strategies to conserve them.