Egyptian Fruit Bat

Rousettus aegyptiacus

### Regions

Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Angola, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Iran, Pakistan

## Social

### Sterility

15 months
Death

### Interbirth

4 months
8 months

## Taxonomy

### Order

Mammalia
Chiroptera

### Genus

Pteropodidae
Rousettus

The **Egyptian Fruit Bat** (*Rousettus aegyptiacus*) is a mid-sized Afro-Asiatic bat featured in the Twilight Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** Unknown

The Egyptian fruit bat (or Rousettus aegyptiacus) is a megabat living in the rainforests, deciduous woodlands and scrublands of Sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. Their body is covered in fur that may be yellow, orange or brown in colour. They have large, grey-black wings with pinker colouration around the fingers. Egyptian fruit bats have a long snout ending in a blunt nose, large round eyes and big pointed ears. On average, they measure 6in in length, with a wingspan of around 24in. Their weight ranges between 2.8oz and 6oz. Males of this species tend to be slightly larger and heavier than females.

Egyptian fruit bats are not endangered and are categorised as a species of least concern. As they may feed on commercial fruit plantations, they may be poisoned or otherwise killed by farmers.

### Social

Egyptian fruit bats live in large colonies in the wild. The social hierarchies within the colony are always changing. During the breeding season, colonies segregate into male and female groups.

### Reproduction

Egyptian fruit bats break up into male and female bachelor groups at the start of a breeding season. Breeding seasons last from April to August, and October to February. Males visit females in their maternity colonies in hopes of finding a mate. To strengthen their bond - and thus increasing the chance of the female allowing copulation - the male often brings gifts of fruits for her to eat. Copulation takes place while hanging down from a branch or similar.

The female is pregnant for 3.5 to 4 months and will give birth to one pup, though occasionally twins may occur. Newborn pups will cling to their mothers and are carried around by them for the first 6 weeks of their lives. At this age, they are strong enough to hang from a roost by themselves where they remain while their mothers are out foraging. Weaning also begins at this time and is complete by 10 weeks old, which is when the pups begin flying and foraging by themselves.

They reach their adult size at 9 months of age and begin living independently. Egyptian fruit bats reach sexual maturity at 15 months old.

## Animal Care

 HABITAT ENRICHMENT
Nectar Feeder · Bat Box · Water Dish · Fruit Skewer · Apple Rope · Perch Box · Perch Frame · Perch Rope

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Facts

* The Egyptian fruit bat will eat 50-150% of its bodyweight in fruit every night.
* The Egyptian fruit bat has been known to live in colonies of up to 9000 bats.
* Egyptian fruit bats have an exclusively frugivorous diet and are ecologically important as seed dispersers.
* The Egyptian fruit bat is a highly vocal species; they have been found to have the rudiments of language and communicate to conspecifics about specific topics such as food sources.
* Egyptian fruit bats have been heavily researched due to their excellent navigation and echolocation.

### Other Trivia

* The Egyptian Fruit Bat is the first animal in *Planet Zoo* that has in-game flying mechanics.
* The Egyptian Fruit Bat is the first Exhibit mammal.
	+ It is also the first Walkthrough Exhibit animal.

## Gallery

First look at the Egyptian Fruit BatAlbino Egyptian Fruit BatBat Walkthrough Exhibit