Wild Times Archive
Creature Feature

Jamaican Fruit Bat

October 1, 2024 | by |
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If you’ve been inside the Edmonton Valley Zoo’s nocturnal wing, you’ve likely noticed our large colony of Jamaican fruit bats!

Jamaican fruit bats are a common and widespread species of bat native to Central and South America. They are characterised by a fleshy nose leaf protrusion on their snouts. Although the purpose of this leafy nose is unknown, scientists believe it plays a role in echolocation, which is the use of echoes of emitted sounds to detect and identify locations. Although these bats are capable of echolocation, they tend to rely on their keen senses of smell and vision to find food.

Did you know? Jamaican fruit bats are excellent – and important – pollinators! After swallowing the juice and pulp of its meal, the bats drop or excrete fruit seeds. This efficiently disperses seeds and helps regenerate tropical forests.

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One of the heavier New World fruit bat species, these bats typically weigh between 40–65 grams (1.4–2.3 ounces). They are approximately 9 cm (3.5 inches) in length with a 41 cm (16 inch) wingspan. They have no tails.

Jamaican fruit bats are a tropical species found as far north as the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico. They live mostly in humid tropical forests, but can also be found in drier habitats. They will frequent gardens and agricultural areas with abundant fruit and flowers.

Brightly-coloured, fragrant fruits make up the majority of the Jamaican fruit bat’s diet. They also eat leaves, flowers, pollen, and nectar. 

Some Jamaican fruit bats fly up to 10–15 km (6–9 miles) per night between their day roost and their feeding sites. They are known for building unusual roost sites, where they chew along the veins of a broad leaf, causing it to fold over like a tent. These areas are used as protection from sun, adverse weather, and predators.

Females usually give birth once or twice a year, generally during times of maximum fruit production in the forest.

Up to nine years in the wild.

The Jamaican fruit bat population is currently stable. Their main predators are barn owls and boa constrictors, but they are also preyed upon by other raptors, larger mammals, and arboreal snakes.

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