Population management of the Rodrigues fruit bat

摘要: Fig. 1. History of the wild population of Rodrigues fruit bats Pteropus rodricensis from 1952-1982 (sources of data: Durrell, 1976; Cheke, 1978; Carroll, 1981; Cheke & Dahl, 1981; Cheke, unpubl.; Mungroo, unpubl.; Jones, pen. comm.) and of the Jersey colony from 1976-1987. illegal wood collection (Young, unpubl.). Therefore, even though the wild population is at its highest for around 15 years, for the foreseeable future the captive population remains an important safeguard against the continuing threat of extinction and may provide a valuable reservoir of genetic variability. Given these circumstances it is essential that the population is closely managed to ensure adequate maintenance of heterozygosity and allelic diversity, and to minimise the loss of rare alleles.