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 teleme- try. These animals left the daytime roosting sites about 90 min after sunset with no significant difference in departure time be- tween the 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 from 7.45 to 11.70 km. The foraging area of the female (3867 ha) was larger than that of the males (1138 ha), and there was overlap between the foraging areas of different individuals. These bats usually kept the same flight routes across a few successive days from the daytime roosting site to the foraging areas. Our findings suggested that female R. leschenaulti may explore a larger foraging area than males. No obvious territorial behaviors were observed in our studied area (Current Zoology 56 (4): 479-484, 2010).