This species probably occurs in old growth forest, but was recorded in a recent survey from a mangrove forest (Tsang et al. 2015). This species has not been recorded in colonial aggregates like many other Pteropus species, and there are no historical records of colonies (Tsang et al. 2015), making it one of the few Pteropus species that are solitary. Data on their roosting and feeding ecologies are sorely lacking due to the rarity of the species.

This species is recorded in the Maluku Islands from Buru, Ambon and Seram islands in Indonesia. There were four localities on three islands historically, and now it is probably absent from Ambon.

This species is listed on Appendix II of CITES. It is found in Manusela National Park, though the forests there are threated by illegal logging, and deforestations throughout Seram has resulted in a loss of almost half of the total forest coverage. A protected area needs to be established on Buru to protect the habitat of this species.