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Common Name : Indian Flying Fox     -       Scientific Name : Pteropus giganteus       -       Other Name : Greater Indian Fruit Bat (E), Ma Wawla (S)
Kala Oya - Gange Wadiya
10/10/2015
Kala Oya - Gange Wadiya
10/10/2015
Kala Oya - Gange Wadiya
10/10/2015
Kala Oya - Gange Wadiya
10/10/2015

This interesting flying mammal lives in tropical countries and is found in Bangladesh, China, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The conservation status of this species is regarded as Least Concerned (National Red List 2012).

This is a species protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance as amended by Act No. 22 of 2009.

I have seen this species throughout the low country. It is equally common in the dry zone and the wet zone. They fly out of their daytime roosts at duck in search of fruits and nectar. Large rooting colonies can be seen at locations such as Vihara Mara Devi Park in Colombo and Peradeniya Gradens. These roosts are always in proximity to a lake or a waterway.

In Wilpattu I came across a large roosting colony of these bats along a narrow waterway at the Kala Oya estuary in Ganga Wadiya. They can be commonly seen during dusk at Wilpattu.