The Moluccan flying fox (''Pteropus chrysoproctus''), also known as the Ambon flying fox, is a species of

megabat Megabats constitute the Family (biology), family Pteropodidae of the Order (biology), order Chiroptera. They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genus, genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—Pteropus, flyin ...

in the genus ''

Pteropus ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

''. It is found in the low-lying forests (less than 250 m above sea level) of

Seram Island Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent i ...

(including Manusela National Park),

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon Island, Ambon and Seram Island, Seram island ...

, Ambon and the nearby

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

of eastern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Another ''Pteropus'' species, '' P. argentatus'', was until recently considered to be the same species as ''P. chrysoproctus''. The habitat has an area of less than 20,000 km² and is decreasing due to logging. For this reason, and because of hunting by the local population, these species have been listed as Vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

References

Pteropus Bats of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Seram Island Fauna of Buru Fauna of the Lesser Sunda Islands Fauna of the Maluku Islands Vulnerable fauna of Asia Vulnerable fauna of Oceania Mammals described in 1837 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck {{fruit-bat-stub