Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit bat

Epomophorus wahlbergi
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)
Threats to these fruit bats include wind farms, habitat loss and drought.
Threats to these fruit bats include wind farms, habitat loss and drought.

Vocal, large-eyed flying creatures that subsist on fruit, nectar and pollen. They distribute fruit – and thus seeds – further from the parent tree when foraging.

A local study has found that increasing temperatures mean the bats get less sleep: They have to spend more time cooling down by spreading their wings, panting and licking their furry bodies.  The study also discovered that the bats spend some time sleeping with one eye open: Something only ever recorded in marine mammals.

Besides climate change, threats to these animals include wind turbines and habitat loss.