12 Journal of Environmental Science and Management 17(2): 12-20 (June 2014) ISSN 0119-1144 Assessment of Fruit Bats and its Food Preferences in Mt. Apo Natural Park, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato, Philippines Richel E. Relox 1* , Leonardo M. Florece 1 , Joselito A. Baril 2 and Jesusita O. Coladilla 1 ABSTRACT Fruit bats are important seed dispersers that aid in natural forest regeneration in degraded areas. This study assessed fruit bat species in a portion of Mt. Apo, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato from September to December 2010 covering six habitat types: human settlement area/residential area, agro-ecosystem/cultivated area, secondary forest/ reforested site, forest edge, riverine/riparian area and montane forest for 1,118 net night hours. The food habits of the bats were also determined based on fecal examination and dropped fruits, which were verifed through secondary information using indigenous knowledge interviews. A total of fve bat species were noted such as Cynopterus brachyotis (n=83), Haplonycteris fsheri (n=33), Ptenochirus minor (n=25), Macroglossus minimus (n=20) and Ptenochirus jagori (n=12) wherein almost 50% of these are Philippine endemics and could be considered as seed dispersers of diverse trees. This study recommends the protection of Philippine and Mindanao endemic fruit bats such as P. minor, H. fscheri and P. jagori, through the conservation of their staple food (Ficus species) and the remaining primary forest habitat. Key words: conservation, food habits, forest, fruit bats, Mt. Apo INTRODUCTION The Philippines has an estimated 180 species of mammals with 115 (57%) of which are endemic. Of these mammals, 77 species are bats with about 22 species considered as country and island endemics (Heaney at al. 1999). Among the bat families, frugivorous bats (Pteropodids) have an important role as pollen and seed dispersers that help maintain forest ecosystem and aid natural forest regeneration of degraded areas (Cox and Elmqvist 1991; Rainey et al. 1995; Mildstein et al. 2005). Bats and plants have developed a strong mutualistic relationship that is the result of closely-linked evolutionary association. This is critical for the propagation of plants as supported by the viability of seeds eaten by bats that would be germinated and grown in natural habitats (Heffner et al. 2007). Indeed, bats play an important role in natural forest regeneration in succession areas. Bats are attracted to the feshy fruits produced by plants (Ingle 2002). Most pioneer trees, which contain many small seeds in a single fruit, have the potential to be widely dispersed to invade and colonize denuded areas. Even though bats are highly mobile, reaching 1 to 20 km between roosting and foraging areas (Fenton 1997), fying long distances are stressful to them in disturbed habitats (Cryan 2003). Seeds are deposited by bats depending largely on the foraging behavior, movement and seed ingestion time (Tang et al. 2008). The highly-threatened lowland dipterocarp forests in the Philippines have diverse fruit trees that are dependent on bats for seed dispersal (Hodgkison et al. 2003). However, human activities such as agricultural expansion, human encroachment, logging and mining are proliferating in these lowland habitats affecting the foral and faunal composition of Mt. Apo. With this, fruit bats mainly have critical roles in pollination and seed dispersal of diverse plants (Agbay et al. 2008) to restore these areas. Hence, this study aims to identify the species of fruit bats in different habitats with varied degrees of human disturbances along with the analysis of its food preferences. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area. Mt. Apo is an active strato-volcano (3,143.6 masl), the highest peak occupying 64,053 ha at 6 o 47 N to 7 o 07 N and 125 o 09 E to 125 o 27 E in the Philippines. It encompasses the municipalities of Magpet, Makilala and the City of Kidapawan (7 o 00’40” N, 125 o 05’28” E) (Figure 1), of the Province of North Cotabato; Bansalan and Sta. Cruz and City of Digos in the Province of Davao del Sur, and in the City of Davao (Rivera 2007). Mt. Apo volcanic complex forms part the Central Mindanao Cordillera and constitute the southern end of a north to south trending belt of Pliocene Quaternary volcanoes. Mt. Apo is a watershed of over 19 river systems in Davao City, Davao del Sur, Bukidnon and Cotabato (Rivera 2007). Mt. Apo has generally a tropical rainy climate. It falls under the Type IV of the modifed Corona's classifcation wherein precipitation is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year. Mean monthly temperature ranges from 1 School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna. E-mail: chelox_8224@yahoo.com (*corresponding author) 2 Animal Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna