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5 September 2024 Demography of the Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus gambianus) in Ghana
Kofi Amponsah-Mensah, Michael A. Hudson, Andrew A. Cunningham, James L.N. Wood, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu
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Abstract

We provide the first estimates of survival and reproductive rates for a population of the Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat Epomophorus gambianus in Ghana. We focused on a large colony of ca. 5,000 bats over 3 years to estimate population parameters including population size, birth rates, survival, and sex ratios for this species. Reproduction chronology was confirmed as seasonal bimodal polyestry, with births occurring in March/April and August/September each year. The estimated birth rate was 0.89 (95% CI = 0.85 to 0.92) per reproductive season. The overall sex ratio (female to male ratio) of the study population was male-dominated (0.69, 95% CI = 0.64 to 0.75), but female-biased for adults (62% female, χ2 1 = 42, P < 0.0001), and showed temporal and age-specific variations. By radiotracking 60 bats for 10 months, we obtained the first estimates of minimum monthly survival for this species as 0.81 (95% CI = 0.74 to 0.86), but this could be an underestimate due to possible undetected emigration of tagged bats.

Kofi Amponsah-Mensah, Michael A. Hudson, Andrew A. Cunningham, James L.N. Wood, and Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu "Demography of the Gambian Epauletted Fruit Bat (Epomophorus gambianus) in Ghana," Journal of Mammalogy 106(1), 168-177, (5 September 2024). https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyae096
Received: 24 February 2023; Accepted: 4 August 2024; Published: 5 September 2024
KEYWORDS
birth rates
capture–mark–recapture
fruit bat
radiotelemetry
reproductive chronology
sex ratio
survival
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