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Flying foxes on Choiseul (Solomon Islands) – the need for conservation action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

E. Bowen-Jones,
D. Abrutat,
B. Markham and
S. Bowe
E. Bowen-Jones
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
D. Abrutat
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
B. Markham
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
S. Bowe
Affiliation:
12 Aldersmead Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1NA, UK.
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Abstract

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The Choiseul 1995 project spent 6 months studying the Chiroptera of Choiseul, one of the least disturbed and most poorly known islands in the Solomons. Among the results were: the rediscovery of a member of the Megachiropteran genus Pteralopex, which had been thought possibly extinct; a new record of another endemic pteropodid with a limited distribution; and evidence of a decline in the ‘commonest’ member of the family in the archipelago. The threats, present and future, to these animals and the forests of the island are discussed. An overview of the status of Pteralopex spp. in the Solomons provides an insight into the need for conservation action in the country as a whole.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1997, pp. 209 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1997

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