Pteropus alecto
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The black flying fox or black fruit bat (Pteropus alecto) is a bat in the family Pteropodidae. It is among the largest bats in the world, but is considerably smaller than the largest species in its genus, Pteropus. The black flying fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is not a threatened species.
Juvenile specimens of this species from Moa Island in Torres Strait have been described as a separate species, Pteropus banakrisi. This supposed species was known as the "Torresian flying fox" or "Moa Island fruit bat". The black flying fox has short, black hair with a contrasting reddish-brown mantle, and a mean forearm length of 164 mm (6.46 in) and a mean weight of 710 g (1.57 lb). It is one of the largest bat species in the world, and has a wingspan of more than 1 metre (39 in).
Black flying foxes are native to Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia), Papua New Guinea (Western Province) and Indonesia (West Papua, Sulawesi, Sumba, and Savu). During the day, individuals reside in large roosts (colonies or 'camps') consisting of hundreds to tens of... Wikipedia →
Recording0:25
Australia · 2020
© kalimata · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:50
Australia · 2024
© Kath Lloyd · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:09
Australia · 2025
© cuckoobrains · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Louisville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Zoologischer Garten Leipzig | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Biotropica | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Caversham Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
No species of the same family or order lives in Ningaloo Marine Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black Flying-fox sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 8 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and September
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Black Flying-fox in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and December–January, the lowest months. Those are among Ningaloo Marine Park's wettest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against almost none in October.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black 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.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Black Flying-fox sightings, Ningaloo Marine Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Cape Range (Australia, about 70%) and Litchfield National Park (Australia, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Flying-fox is recorded against all the mammals logged in Ningaloo Marine Park (60 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.
