Thickly furred, most of the coat is a dark chestnut brown except for a mantle of golden brown hair that covers the head, neck and shoulders.
Fruit bats are mainly nocturnal and have excellent eyesight.
They are important pollinators in many regions of the world, redistributing pollen and seeds from a wide variety of plants. The Rodrigues fruit bat was listed as endangered in 1984. In 1974, there were only about 70 bats left in the wild. Deforestation on the island of Rodrigues is the largest contributing factor to the decline of these bats in the wild. Riverbanks Zoo has recently received 25 captive born bats, which are on display in the small mammal exhibits near the sea lions.