Welcome to Flying Fox Conservation FundFlying Fox Conservation Fund is working towards opening a fruit bat rescue, rehabilitation, captive breeding, and research center on the island of Sulawesi. This center will be the first of its kind in Indonesia. The facility will be utilized by Sulawesi wildlife personnel to rehabilitate and release fruit bats rescued from markets and to educate local people about the beneficial role bats play in their everyday lives. Flying Fox Conservation Fund will start a captive breeding program for threatened and endangered fruit bats. The center will be used by researchers and students to study fruit bats in captivity. The facility can also provide sanctuary for Sulawesi's other endangered wildlife if the need exists. Why we need to save Fruit batsFruit bats play a vital role in the ecology of the rain forests where they live. Old world fruit bats eat the fruit, nectar or flowers of more than 300 plant species, and these plants rely on the bats for seed dispersal and pollination. Unlike birds, bats disperse seeds far away from the parent tree by eating them and depositing the seeds in their droppings. In fact, seeds dropped by bats can account for up to 95 percent of forest regrowth on cleared land. Performing this essential role puts these bats among the most important seed-dispersing animals of both the Old and New World. Bats are particularly important on islands where they are often the only flying animals big enough to transport larger seeds. Fruit bats have been shown to be the sole pollinator of the Baobab tree in Africa, this tree is important to so many other wildlife it is called the "Tree of Life". Small fruit bats such as the Dawn bat are important pollinators of many important agricultural plants like durian, mangoes, cashew, figs, balsa, dates, kapok and others. Some plants, like the durian of south east Asia, produce white flowers that only open at night and drop off the tree by morning, these flowers are especially designed to be pollinated by fruit bats. Last but not least, the major reason for protecting fruit bats is that they are beautiful, gentle, intelligent living creatures that deserve to live.
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