There is an active captive-breeding program for the Livingstone’s flying fox that has increased the captive population from 17 to 59 individuals across four different institutions.
There is an active captive-breeding program underway for the Livingstone’s flying fox initiated by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in 1992.
The program began with 17 founder individuals, 7 females and 10 males, captured from the wild on Anjouan during 1992-1995.
The captive population of the bat subsequently expanded at a slower rate than other fruit bat species in captive breeding programs, such as the Rodrigues flying fox (Pteropus rodricensis), at least initially. However, by 2014, the Livingstone’s flying fox captive population had reached 59 individuals, 22 females and 37 males, housed at four institutions: the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey, U.K.; Bristol, Clifton; West of England Zoological Society, in Bristol, U.K.; North of England Zoological Society in Chester, U.K.; and Lisieux Cerza in Lisieux, France.
• Image | © M Jean Marie PARIS, All Rights Reserved
• Sources | (Clark, et al., 1997; O’Brien, 2011; Sewall, Young, Trewhella, Rodríguez-Clark, & Granek, 2016)
