aegyptiacus, of tropical origin, is facing major seasonal survival difficulties near the northern edge of its distribution, probably limiting its spread further northwards still.Įgyptian fruit bats ( Rousettus aegyptiacus) are highly common across Israel, which is located close to the northernmost edge (Turkey) of their geographic distribution range-i.e., Israel is located within the 90 percentile of their northern population 1, 2 (see Supplementary Fig. Our results suggest that it is mainly harsh weather that drives the observed winter morbidity, with food limitations playing a minor-role. We also employed GPS tracking to monitor the movement and foraging of dozens of bats, and to examine the potential correlates of elevated winter morbidity.
We characterized two prominent types of previously undescribed morbidities in R. Moreover, we found that the number of abandoned pups peaked during spring and summer, when adult morbidity is minimal. The data analysis revealed an increase in all types of morbidity during the wintertime, with more than two-fold the number of cases per week compared to in the summer, over three consecutive years. All cases of injured bats were evaluated and categorized according to date, place, sex, age, and etiology of the morbidity.
To examine the challenges faced by free-ranging Rousettus aegyptiacus living at the northern edge of their distribution, we performed a retrospective analysis of 2196 clinical cases reported by a bat rescue NGO over a period of 36 months, from throughout Israel.
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