Foraging areas of Rousettus leschenaulti on the Hainan Island of China

We investigated the foraging area of three individuals (1 female and 2 males) of Rousettus leschenaulti (Chiroptera,Pteropodidae) in suburban Haikou City, Hainan Province, South China from November 2005 to January 2006 using radio telemetry.These animals left the daytime roosting sites about 90 min after sunset with no significant difference in departure time betweenthe male and female bats. The average active times were 391.8 min for males and 533.7 min for the female, respectively.By reconstructing 93 radio-telemetry recording positions, we found that the long axis of foraging area of the bats ranged from7.45 to 11.70 km. The foraging area of the female (3867 ha) was larger than that of the males (1138 ha), and there was overlapbetween the foraging areas of different individuals. These bats usually kept the same flight routes across a few successive daysfrom the daytime roosting site to the foraging areas. Our findings suggested that female R. leschenaulti may explore a larger foragingarea than males. No obvious territorial behaviors were observed in our studied area.