Rousettus madagascariensis
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Madagascan rousette (Rousettus madagascariensis) or Madagascar rousette, is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. The Madagascan rousette is a small fruit bat, the smallest of the three fruit bats endemic to Madagascar. The upper part of their bodies have a greyish fur while the underparts have a paler grey tinge. Like many other fruit bats, Madagascan rousettes have very dog-like faces with long, pointed snouts, large, wide eyes and largely separated ears. Like some other members of the genus Rousettus, these bats reside within cave roosts, suggesting the use of echolocation. These bats are a part of a larger group of fruit bats within Rousettus which consists of 10 different species. The Madagascan rousette primarily resides on western islands of the Indian Ocean.
The habitat of the Madagascan rousette is generally found to be associated with forests. They will roost well beyond the time of twilight. Many roosts have been found within caves however some bats have been found without a known cave roost, suggesting that the Madagascan rousette... Wikipedia →
Recording0:24
Madagascar · 2025
© dbeadle · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Mantadia National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascan Rousette sighting in Mantadia National Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 12 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May, September and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascan Rousette in Mantadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and December–March, the lowest months. Those are among Mantadia National Park's driest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 340 mm in January.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascan Rousette sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Mantadia National Park, in our data
Mantadia National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Madagascan Rousette sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascan Rousette is recorded against all the mammals logged in Mantadia National Park (13 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
