Hammer-headed Fruit Bat
Predators and Threats
photo courtsey of: NotTooHappy (member
of www.AboveTopSecret.com)
Known Predators
Due to their extremely large size they don't have a lot of predators. The fact that they are inactive in the daytime they need more eyes for predators, in result individuals may roost in a small group. They rely on their light brown color to camouflage themselves from predators (Barclay, 1990). The most common predators and threats are:
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Humans
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Diurnal/Nocturnal Birds of Prey
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Parasites
Threats
In some cases these large bats are threatened by humans and birds of prey; however parasites commonly infect adults and are their most threat. Humans threaten these bats because of destruction of their habitat and sometimes hunted by humans for food. Due to their large size they provide a great meal for birds of prey and in some areas they could affect prey populations, depending on their necessity and availability (Boland, 2003). The hammer-headed fruit bat hosts its own known heptaoparasite, the Hepatocystis carpenteri. Some studies suggest that in certain hammer-head bat populations, a high percentage of individuals are infected (Barclay, 1990). Other studies have shown that the hammer-head bat has also been found to show no symptoms of the Ebola disease and is able to carry the virus. The hammer-head and other fruit bats have been blamed for causing outbreaks of the Ebola disease, killing 50 to 90 percent of its victims (Brahic, 2005).
This page was created by Lamar Hull for an undergraduate Animal Behavior 323 course at 
.
Please contact Dr. Case via email if you have and questions or comments: vecase@davidson.edu
