CAPTURE AND SURVEY OF LIVINGSTONE FRUIT BATS PTEROPUS-LIVINGSTONII INTHE COMOROS ISLANDS - THE 1995 EXPEDITION

Livingstone's fruit bat Pteropus livingstonii (Gray 1866) is one of th e most endangered Old World fruit bats, found in the wild on only two islands in the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros (RFIC) in the w estern Indian Ocean. The fourth expedition in six years was made to th e island of Anjouan in 1995, in order to capture additional P. livings tonii females to augment the captive breeding colony held at the Jerse y Wildlife Preservation Trust (JWPT) and to census the population. Usi ng capture methods based on those developed during previous expedition s, 23 male P. livingstonii, 42 Pteropus seychellensis comorensis and 7 2 Rousettus obliviosus were caught, measured and released on Anjouan. Five female P. livingstonii were caught and transported to JWPT, bring ing the total captive population to seven wild caught females, ten wil d-caught males and nine juveniles born and surviving in captivity as o f November 1997. In addition, previously distributed educational mater ials prompted island residents to come forward with information about three new P. livingstonii roosting sites. A simultaneous count of thes e and previously known roosts yielded a minimum population on Anjouan of 332 individuals. When combined with other counts of the Moheli popu lation, this provides an estimate of approximately 400 Livingstone's f ruit bats in total. The most important factors in capture success prov ed to be previous reconnaissance, timing, and improved equipment. The significant male bias in P. livingstonii captures is probably due to s easonal and feeding site effects, rather than a bias in the total popu lation. The number of wild-caught individuals currently in captivity a ppears to be sufficient for the time being to fulfil adequately most f unctions of the captive breeding programme. Therefore, resources in th e near future are best directed towards habitat preservation, continue d monitoring of the wild population, public education programmes, esta blishment of a permanent field station in the RFIC and sound managemen t of animals already in captivity.