Eidolon helvum ( Kerr, 1792 )

Decher, Jan, Norris, Ryan W., Abedi-Lartey, Michael, Oppong, James, Hutterer, Rainer, Weinbrenner, Martin, Koch, Martin, Podsiadlowski, Lars & Kilpatrick, C. William, 2021, A survey of small mammals in the Volta Region of Ghana with comments on zoogeography and conservation, Zoosystema 43 (14), pp. 253-281 : 266

Eidolon helvum ( Kerr, 1792)

Vespertilio vampyrus helvus Kerr, 1792 : xvii: 91.

COMMON NAME. — Straw-colored Fruit Bat; EWE: Aguto.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Agumatsa (Wli) • 1 ♀; SMF 89666; brought to us by a local hunter; 19.XI.1999 .

REMARK

A large colony of this gregarious and migratory fruit bat roosts on the trees and rock faces next to Wli Waterfall, recently estimated to include 250 000 individuals ( Hayman et al. 2012) with an earlier report estimating the colony to include half a million E. helvum ( Rice 1973) , which would probably make it the most abundant fruit bat species in the area. Estimating the ecosystem services provided by the seed dispersal activities of E. helvum in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa was the subject of a recent study ( van Toor et al. 2019).

CONSERVATION STATUS. — Eidolon helvum has been listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List because of significant population declines probably resulting from habitat loss and hunting for food and medicine ( Peel et al. 2017).