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70 Heng Pei Pei, Lim Kuang Hock, Cheong Yoon Ling, Noraini Osman, Noraina Majid,
70 Heng Pei Pei, Lim Kuang Hock, Cheong Yoon Ling, Noraini Osman, Noraina Majid, Tan Poai Ean,
Tan Poai Ean, Shyamini Ann Samson, Ali Aman Marine, Mohd Hazilas Mat Hashim,
Shyamini Ann Samson, Ali Aman Marine, Mohd Hazilas Mat Hashim, Mohd Yahya Izral Umpong,
Mohd Yahya Izral Umpong, Balvinder Singh Gill & Lim Boo Liat
Balvinder Singh Gill & Lim Boo Liat

An effective long-term conservation plan is greatly important to protect the flying
fox’s species besides guiding the recovery from population decline. Aziz et al.
(2019) has produced the conservation roadmap for the flying fox species in
Malaysia which consists of seven main conservation initiatives. These include;
1) ecosystem themed research highlight, 2) implementation of on-site
investigation at fruit orchard to promote non-lethal flying fox deterrent system,
3) documentation and protection of all important roost sites, 4) identification and
protection of native foraging habitat critical for survival, 5) an annual basis
standardized census assessment on the population trend, 6) improvement of the
public perception of flying foxes and the standardization of information to guide
conservation recovery, and 7) establishment of effective enforcement network for
the species protection on Malaysian islands (Aziz et al., 2019). On the other hand,
a complementary effort has been provided by the Malaysian Bat Conservation
Research Unit (MBCRU) which was established in 2001 to promote conservation
of bat fauna via long-term conservation research. Furthermore, a captive breeding
program can also be integrated as part of the conservation plan. In other countries,
multiple species of endangered flying fox are successfully bred in captivity to
augment the population sizes. One best example would be the captive breeding of
the endangered Pteropus rodricensis with great success. Worldwide, 46 zoos
participate in the Rodrigues flying fox breeding program as of 2017 (Tatayah et
al., 2017). The conservation management should be implemented by various
multinational stakeholders across countries, such as the existing Multinational
Protection Plan currently available and applied to the migratory animals including
birds (U.S. Congress, 2000), marine mammals and turtles (U.S. Congress, 2004)
and neotropical Microchiroptera (Medellin, 2003). An international protection
plan for bats, is therefore ought to be formulated.

CONCLUSION

This study reported the two Near Threatened species of P. vampyrus and P.
hypomelanus that collected in the Biomedical Museum of IMR from 1967-1977,
morphologically and the habitat distribution. The information generated will
enrich the body of knowledge among the scientific community in future
researches in the field of medical ecology and zoology. In addition, the roles of
Biomedical Museum are enhanced by providing detail scientific significance for
public education. The Pteropus species are vulnerable to hunting and shelter
loss across the range. The bats were reported frequently across ranges of
international borders; hence regional focus is mandatory in the conservation
management and multinational approach through enforcement of legislation,
education, intensive conservation, and cross-national co-operation are very
important for the optimum protection of the flying foxes.