Federal agents search Rota homes

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with other federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, searched five Rota homes yesterday as part of an investigation into the recent poaching of an estimated 190 protected Mariana fruit bats.

The recent poaching decimated two of the island’s three remaining colonies, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Mariana fruit bat is protected as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Killing a protected species, or destroying its habitat, is a federal criminal offense. In addition, the hunting of Mariana fruit bats has been outlawed by the CNMI since the 1990s.

“We are urging anyone with information about the poaching of these rare animals to please come forward,” said Paul Chang, special agent in charge of law enforcement for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region. “The future of an entire species may depend on it.”

Known as “fanihi” in Chamorro, the Mariana fruit bat was once common throughout the Northern Marianas and was an important food to the Chamorro people. In the past few decades, the bats numbers have been plummeted, mostly due to habitat loss and hunting. Recent poaching on Rota has pushed the species closer to extinction.

In October, the CNMI’s Division of Fish and Wildlife said they discovered two poaching activities in two fruit bat colonies on Rota between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 during regular monitoring work in the area.

In one colony roost site, DFW employees found no bats at all and the ground was littered with .410 and 12-gauge shotgun shells. They also discovered carcasses of the endangered species.

“Based on the state of decay and the garbage left behind, it was determined that the illegal hunting occurred on or around Oct. 26,” the report said.

The same poaching activity was discovered in a routine survey on Nov. 1 at another fruit bat colony, where fresh blood on rocks and empty .410 and 12-gauge shotgun shells were found.

A dead juvenile male and female bats and an infant still clinging to her mother were also found.

DFW officers noted that prior to their arrival at the site they noticed five hunters leaving the colony site.

Biologists estimate that about 190 fruit bats or as much as 14 percent of the Rota bat population was destroyed, with 1,000 or fewer fruit bats left on the island. In 2000, there was an estimated 2,500 fruit bats on the island.

“Hunting at fruit bat colonies is particularly harmful because the colonies are primarily composed of females, infants and juveniles, with a few breeding males,” DFW states. “A Mariana fruit bat produces only one offspring at a time, which may stay with the mother for at least a year. This causes the population to grow very slowly and makes every female and offspring crucial to the recovery and long-term survival of the species.”

Other agencies involved in the investigation include the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency; National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Marshals, and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Leonardo M. Rapadas, United States Attorney, also provided assistance.

The Mariana fruit bat is a medium sized bat found only in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Fewer than 100 of the bats remain on Guam and fewer that 5,000 in all of the CNMI. The bats live in colonies, primarily in native forests, of a few individuals to more than 800. They group themselves into harems (one male with 2-15 females) or bachelor group consisting primarily of males. The colonies sleep during much of the day, with bats gradually departing for several hours after sunset to forage. They mostly eat the fruits and flowers of native plants and are important components of tropical forest ecosystems. They disperse plant seeds and thereby help maintain forest diversity and contribute to plant regeneration following typhoons and other catastrophic events.

Strong fliers that traverse long distance, the Mariana fruit bat can easily fly between islands ranging from 18-62 miles apart. The species is a member of the family Pteropodidae, which is often referred to as flying foxes because of the canine appearance of the face. The bats range in weight from 0.66-1.15 pounds (males are slightly larger than females) and have an impressive wingspan ranging from 2.75-3.5 feet. All Mariana fruit bat have grizzled black to brown fur and a golden brown mantle. The head color varies from brown to dark brown.