International Journal of Farming and Allied Sciences
Available online at www.ijfas.com
©2012 IJFAS Journal-2012-1-4/97-100
ISSN 0000-0000 ©2012 IJFAS
Checklist of First Recorded Bat Species in Peshawar and Adjacent Areas,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Farzana Perveen1* and Faiz-ur-Rahman2
1- Chairperson, Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University (SBBU), Main Campus, Sheringal,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
2- Department of Zoology, Hazara University, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Corresponding author Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT: Seven species belonging to 5 genera of 4 families were recorded during May 2011 and September
2012 in Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan, Nowshera and Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The bat species
included: one fruit bat species (Pteropus giganteus; Pteropodidae), one fulvus leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros fulvus;
Hipposideridae), one greater mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma microphyllum; Rhinopomitidae), three Pipistrellus bats
of Vespertilionidae (Indian Pipistrellus, Pipistrellus coromandra; least Pipistrellus, P. tenuis; Jawan Pipistrellus, P.
javinacum) and one greater Asiatic yellow house bat (Scotophilus heathii; Vespertilionidae). A detailed study is
required for further exploration of bat fauna in the study areas.
Keywords: Bat, Charsadda, Chiroptera, Kohat, Mardan, Nowshera, Peshawar
INTRODUCTION
Order Chiroptera is divided into Megachiroptera (fruit
bats) and Microchiroptera (insectivores bats) (Koopman,
1993; Bates and Harrison, 1997; Wilson and Reeder,
2005). The bats exist everywhere, except Antarctic, Arctic
and some isolated oceanic islands (Hutson et al., 2001).
They comprise of 1150 recognized extant species
(Schipper et al., 2008) and are major contributor to
mammalian biodiversity (Mayer et al., 2010). In the Indian
subcontinent, 119 bat species have been recorded
belonging to 8 families and 37 genera from Afghanistan,
Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Northern Myanmar and
Maldives (Bates and Harrison, 1997). These bat species
are now striving hard to survive in the region (Bates and
Harrison, 1997). Bats comprise greater than one fourth of
the known mammal species in Pakistan (Roberts, 1997)
but are the least studied mammals (Mahmood-ul-Hassan et
al., 2009). It is still unclear about the exact number of the
bat species, although more than 50 species of bats
representing 26 genera of 8 families are reported in
Pakistan.
The ecological services of the bats are very well
acknowledged in the whole Europe (Fujita and Tuttle,
1991; Michelbergh et al., 1992). They are forecasting
climate variations and habitat decline of an ecosystem as
they are considered as universally important bioenvironmental-indicators (Jones et al., 2009). Pakistan is
an agriculture country and the most of the areas are under
the cultivation of different types of crops and fruits. Fruit
bats are often labeled as pests in Pakistan because they eat
plenty of fruits. Local practitioners kill them for their body
fats (Roberts, 1997).
Peshawar (34○ 0ꞌ 28ꞌꞌ North, 71○ 34ꞌ 24ꞌꞌ East) is
the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is situated in a
large valley near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass. The
Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan and Nowshera are adjacent
area of the Peshawar. Most of the areas are under the
cultivation of different types of crops providing habitat for
different kind of invertebrates and vertebrates (Perveen
and Jamal, 2012). Bats are a dominant category of the
community; however, very limited studies had been on
them in the past because most researchers regard them as
less important mammal (Butt and Beg, 2001). Bats play an
important role in the agro-ecosystem of Pakistan,
Intl. J. Farm. & Alli. Sci., 1 (4): 97-100, 2012
particularly those fruit bats dispersing seeds and
pollinating the plants (Mickleberg et al., 1992). About 400
plant products, derived from 163 plants species depends
upon fruit bats for seed dispersal and pollination that are
useful to man (Fujita and Tuttle, 1991). Keeping in view
the importance of this group, the present study is design to
prepare the checklist of first recorded of bats of Peshawar
and adjacent areas of Pakistan.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Bats were collected from Chrsada, Kohat, Mardan,
Noshera and Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
during May 2011-September 2012 by different mist nets of
6, 9, and 12 m sizes (each with five shelves and 16×16
mesh sized) were used to capture bats. They were erected
2.5 m high in “L” or “V” shape above the ground. All the
nets were opened simultaneously at sunset and were
continued to operate, depending on the weather conditions,
for two hours after sunset. The total mist net area in each
session was 120 m2. The sampling efforts were remained
the same throughout the study and a total of 216 mist net
nights were utilized. The collected specimens were
brought in the laboratory. They were preserved first at low
temperature in a freezer before being weighed and
measured, then in plastic jars containing 70% alcohol
permanently.
Collected bats were identified through morphometric and
cranial measurements with the help of keys of bates (Bates
and Harrison, 1997; Roberts, 1997; Srinivasulu et al.,
2010), experts and already preserved specimen available in
the Museum, Department of Zoology, Hazara University.
Each specimen were given a specific field number and
mentioned collector’s name, date and time of capture,
exact locality, sex, tehsil and district’s names on a tag.
RESULTS
A total of 213 individuals were captured and
preserved, while 7 species of bats belonging to 5 genera
and 4 families with 5:1 male and female gender ratio were
reported from Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan, Nowshera and
Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan during May
2011-September 2012 as follows:
Phylum: Chordata
Sub-Phylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Suborder: Megachiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae Gray, 1821
Genus: Pteropus Brisson, 1762
Flying fox, P. giganteus (Brunnich, 1782)
Suborder: Microchiroptera
Family: Rhinopomitidae Bonaparte, 1838
Genus: Rhinopoma Geoffrey, 1818
Greater mouse tailed bats, R. microphyllum (Brunnich,
1792)
Family: Hipposideridae Lydekker, 1891
Genus: Hipposideros Gray, 1831
Fulvus Leaf-nosed bat, H. fulvus Gray, 1838
Family: Vespertilionidae Gray, 1821
Genus: Pipistrellus Kaup, 1829
Indian Pipistrellus, P. coromandra (Gray, 1838)
Java Pipistrellus, P. javanicus (Gray, 1838)
Least Pipistrellus, P. tenuis (Temminck, 1840)
Genus: Scotophilus Leech 1821
Greater Asiatic yellow house bat, S. heathii (Horsefield,
1831)
DISCUSSION
At the present, the checklist of the bats of the
Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan, Nowshera and Peshawar,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, the first and pioneering
research was done during May 2011-September 2012.
Presently, the P. giganteus documented from Charsadda
which is the area found in the vicinity of Peshawar while
this species is the first and new record in this area. They
are the fruit bats, therefore, their presence in this area is
due to richly availability of fruit orchards like persimmon,
loquat and litchi. However, another species belong to
genus Rousettus was not reported during the present
research. Walker and Molur (2003) considered family
Pteropodidae as data deficient in South Asia while Murray
(1884) and Eates (1968) reported the colonies of P.
giganteus from Malir in Karachi. Fifteen years ago, P.
giganteus was reported as rare species in Pakistan
(Roberts, 1997). However, large colonies of them were
observed from Baghi-Jinnah in Lahore (personal
observation in 2012). Moreover, Roberts (1997) also
reported this species from Mohlandar Mango Garden,
Governor House, Lahore in 1992. Furthermore, he was
also reported them from Jhelum in Multan, Mailsi in
Punjab and Malakand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
(Roberts, 1997).
During the present research, P. javanicus was
recorded from Peshawar, however, Roberts (1997)
reported from Gharial in Murree Hills, but very little
information is available about them in Pakistan. Roberts
(1997) also recorded P. tenuis from Chitral and Sinha
(1980) in Malakand. Three mentioned areas, i.e., Murree
Hills, Chitral and Sinha were located in the province,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, therefore, one can argue that this
species found in diverse habitat, ecological, geographical
and climatological factors of the areas.
During the present research, R. microphyllum was
reported for the first time from Takht Bahi and Frontier
Region (FR) are found in the vicinity of Peshawar.
Therefore, they are abundant in these two areas, because
the environmental factors, i.e., geographical occurrence,
temperature and food availability were favorable for them.
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Intl. J. Farm. & Alli. Sci., 1 (4): 97-100, 2012
Roberts (1997) reported P. coromandra from Dir, Chitral
and Swat districts while this species was also collected in
the present study from Peshawar district but is not first
time.
Scotophilus heathii was also reported from Islamabad,
Multan, Lahore, Kashmore, Sakkar, Jaccobabad, Mirpur,
Sakro, Dadu, Landi, Malir and Karachi (Sindh)
(Wroughton, 1916; Lindsay, 1926; Siddiqui, 1960; Taber
et al., 1967; Walton, 1974; Robert, 1997). During the
present research, they were also collected from Chrsada,
Kohat, Mardan, Noshera, and Peshawar, Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. Roberts (1997) reported H. fulvus from
Sukkar and Thatta (Southern Sindh) as well as Panjgur and
Khoshab (Southern Baluchistan), Rawalpindi and Chaklala
while during the present research they were collected
from Peshawar. The present research area, Peshawar is
more toward the Northern-South of the adjacent areas and
away from the equator. The chiropteran biodiversity of
Pakistan included 50 species, 25 genera and 8 families
(Mahmood-ul Hassan and Nameer, 2006) while in the
present research 7 species, 5 genera and 4 families were
identified within the limited territory of Peshawar and its
four areas found in vicinity for the first time. All reported
species were earlier defined in other areas of Pakistan but
they were reported in Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan,
Nowshera and Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
for the first time. The biodiversity differences were due to
geographical and ecological differences. As the insects are
the main source of food for Microchiroptera bats as they
are abundant in the warm areas, therefore, the biodiversity
was different among the research areas. Therefore, diverse
bat fauna is found in Charsadda, Kohat, Mardan,
Nowshera and Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
The present study is continuing for further bats finding in
the study areas.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to students, M. Salim (MPil)
and Hameedullah (PhD) for providing all possible
information and cooperation during the present research.
The experiments comply with the current laws of the
country in which they were performed.
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