Otomops martiensseni: Large-Eared Free-Tailed Bat

Large-Eared Free-Tailed Bat - Otomops martiensseni
( Matschie, 1897 )

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Subspecies:	Unknown
Est. World Population:

CITES Status:	NOT LISTED
IUCN Status:	Near Threatened
U.S. ESA Status:	NOT LISTED

Body Length:
Tail Length:
Shoulder Height:
Weight:

Top Speed:
Jumping Ability:	(Horizontal)

Life Span:	in the Wild
Life Span:	in Captivity

Sexual Maturity:	(Females)
Sexual Maturity:	(Males)
Litter Size:
Gestation Period:

Habitat:

Animals have been recorded from a wide variety of habitats ranging from savanna to montane tropical moist forest. In southern Africa the species frequents urban and suburban areas, foraging in areas of intensive agricultural operations (Fenton et al. 2002). Southern Africa colonies tend to be small (numbering up to 30 animals) and are regularly recorded from buildings (see Fenton et al. 2002). Other populations mainly roost in caves, disused tunnels, trees, hollows and on vegetation.

Range:

This species has been widely, but patchily, recorded from much of sub-Saharan Africa. In Africa it has been reported from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in West Africa, through Central Africa (recorded from Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and western Uganda), to East Africa (Tanzania), and southern Africa (Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and eastern regions of South Africa).

Conservation:

There is a need to reassess the status of all known roosts (and to locate additional localities) to ascertain numbers and status of colonies, so that key sites can be identified. The species has been recorded from Comoe National Park, Côte d'Ivoire (Fahr and Kalko 2011), Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo (Verschuren 1957), and a national park in Rwanda (Hutson et al. 2001). The species occurs in several protected areas in South Africa (Adams et al. 2015). It is a listed Threatened or Protected Species (ToPS) under the South African National Environmental Management (NEMBA): Biodiversity Act (No. 10 of 2004) and is protected by provincial ordinance in the KwaZulu-Natal province.

An IUCN Species Action Plan has been developed for this species (Hutson et al. 2001) ); this action plan requires revision given the reviewed species limits of O. martiensseni (Lamb et al. 2008, Richards et al. 2012) and the description of new northeast African species, O. harrisoni (Ralph et al. 2015).