The giant golden-crowned flying fox is a species native to the Philippines and has gone viral in a resurfaced post again.
Twitter user @AlexJoestar622 posted an old image showing the large bat with the caption, “Remember when I told y’all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about.”
Fortunately, these large bats are vegetarians so we’re all safe from being eaten. The giant golden-crowned flying fox loves feasting on fruits and plant leaves with figs being their main source of food.
Based on the screenshot images, this bat species can have a wingspan up to 1.7 metres! However, it’s the image of the man standing next to the upside down bat that gives the shivers because it’s a good comparison of the bat’s true, relative size.
Recent resurfacing of these photos sparked renewed interest in these giant mammals. It turns out that these bats cannot echolocate or use-high frequency sounds to navigate like the smaller bats. Just like humans, it uses its eyes to look for food.
The numbers of giant golden-crowned flying fox continue to dwindle due to the loss of habitat and food. According to ADW, the population of these bats declined by over 50% from 1986 to 2016.
Although this bat species is currently under international protection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the lack of enforcement of national and international laws still endanger these animals.
There are several species in this megabat family. However, threats from poaching, deforestation and illegal trafficking caused the extinction of Acerodon lucifer from an island in the Philippines known as Panay.
