Threats from overhunting to the flying fox, <i>Pteropus tonganus</i>, (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) on Niue Island, South Pacific Ocean

作     者：Brooke, AP Tschapka, M 

作者机构：Univ Ulm Dept Expt Ecol Ulm Germany 

出 版 物：《BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION》 (生物保护)

年 卷 期：2002年第103卷第3期

页      面：343-348页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 0830[工学-环境科学与工程（可授工学、理学、农学学位）] 07[理学] 09[农学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：South Pacific Regional Environmental Program 

主　　题：hunting polynesian beliefs fruit bats 

摘      要：Flying fox fruit bats are hunted in an annual 2-month season in Niue, a small and isolated South Pacific island nation. The sustainability of this hunt has been questioned because of an obvious recent decline. We estimated the island-wide flying fox population to be between 2040 and 4080 bats, 2 months prior to the 1998-1999 hunt. Sixty hunters interviewed after the hunt had shot 1555 bats, an unsustainable number. Many Niueans believe that an infinite quantity of flying foxes live in two small taboo or forbidden areas that originally acted as wildlife sanctuaries to safeguard animal resources for times of famine. However, our surveys suggest only a small colony roosts in one taboo area. Niueans belief that taboo areas shelter an unlimited number of bats cannot be refuted as the areas may not be visited. Consequently, few people believe that the population is being overharvested. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.