Pteropus medius
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The Indian flying fox (Pteropus medius), also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, is a species of flying fox native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the largest bats in the world. It is of interest as a disease vector, as it is capable of transmitting several viruses to humans. It is nocturnal and feeds mainly on ripe fruits, such as mangoes and bananas, and nectar. This species is often regarded as vermin due to its destructive tendencies towards fruit farms, but the benefits of its pollination and seed propagation often outweigh the impacts of its fruit consumption.
The Indian flying fox was described as a new species by Dutch zoologist and museum curator Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1825 who gave it the scientific name Pteropus medius. Confusion over the name has prevailed in the literature as in 1782 Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich, gave the scientific name Vespertilio gigantea as a replacement for Vespertilio vampyrus Linnaeus (1758: 31).
He was specifically referring to Linnaeus's use of Vespertillo vampyrus. Carl Linnaeus had previously classified the species as Pteropus vampyrus and as such gigantea could not be used for a species... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Dhaka | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 3 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Vadodara | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Guwahati | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toronto Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Baton Rouge Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Hellabrunn Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Terra Natura Benidorm | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Jijamata Udyaan | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Topeka Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Bioparc Fuengirola | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 14 | Selwo Marina | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 15 | Castellar Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 16 | The Green Planet | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 17 | Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 18 | Snakeroom Serpentarium | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 19 | Tierpark Schlichtweg 15 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 20 | Zoo Schlichtweg 11 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 21 | Zoo Siebenbrunner Straße 6 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany |
No species of the same family or order lives in Kolkata, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Flying Fox sighting in Kolkata on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 7 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and July–September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Flying Fox in Kolkata on a given day, against under 5% in April, June and October–November, the lowest months. Those are among Kolkata's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in December.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Flying Fox sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
23rd of 23
Of the 23 cities where we can rate Indian Flying Fox sightings, Kolkata ranks 23rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Thiruvananthapuram (India, about 50%), Dhaka (Bangladesh, about 40%) and Coimbatore (India, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Flying Fox is recorded against all the mammals logged in Kolkata (10 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
