Dog-faced bats spread fear in Sindh’s Nawab Shah

Nawab Shah: People of Sindh’s Nawab Shah district were left horrified after they their crops came under attack from flocks of dog-faced bats.

Some residents said that the bat weighing around 1 kilogram also attacked humans.

The video of the bat was spread on social media websites and WhatsApp groups with various captions. A look at the videos suggests that these bats are called Fruit Bats or Megabats. These bats eats fruits unlike the common bat which consumes insects. The bat seen in Nawab Shah is called “Greater Indian Fruit Bat” or “Indian Flying Fox”.

The greater Indian fruit bat, is a species of flying fox found in th subcontinent. It is one of the largest bats in the world. It is of interest as a disease vector, as it is capable of transmitting several viruses to humans. It is nocturnal and feeds mainly on ripe fruits, such as mangoes and bananas, and nectar. This species is often regarded as vermin due to its destructive tendencies towards fruit farms, but the benefits of its pollination and seed propagation often outweigh the impacts of its fruit consumption.

The Indian flying fox is found across the Indian Subcontinent, including in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Tibet, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.