Daytime behavior of Pteropus vampyrus in a natural habitat:the driver of viral transmission

[摘要] Flying foxes, the genus Pteropus, are considered viral reservoirs. Theircolonial nature and long flight capability enhance their ability to spread virusesquickly. To understand how the viral transmission occurs between flying foxes and otheranimals, we investigated daytime behavior of the large flying fox (Pteropusvampyrus) in the Leuweung Sancang conservation area, Indonesia, by usinginstantaneous scan sampling and all-occurrence focal sampling. The data were obtained from0700 to 1700 hr, during May 11–25, 2016. Almost half of the flying foxes (46.9 ± 10.6% ofall recorded bats) were awake and showed various levels of activity during daytime. Thepotential behaviors driving disease transmission, such as self-grooming, mating/courtshipand aggression, peaked in the early morning. Males were more active and spent more time onsexual activities than females. There was no significant difference in time spent fornegative social behaviors between sexes. Positive social behaviors, especially maternalcares, were performed only by females. Sexual activities and negative/positive socialbehaviors enable fluid exchange between bats and thus facilitate intraspeciestransmission. Conflicts for living space between the flying foxes and the ebony leafmonkey (Trachypithecus auratus) were observed, and this caused dailyroosting shifts of flying foxes. The ecological interactions between bats and otherwildlife increase the risk of interspecies infection. This study provides the details ofthe flying fox’s behavior and its interaction with other wildlife in South-East Asia thatmay help explain how pathogen spillover occurs in the wild.

[学科分类] 兽医学

[关键词] all-occurrence focal sampling;daytime behavior;disease transmission;instantaneous scan sampling;Pteropus vampyrus