Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: Lientjie Cohen David Jacobs Kate MacEwan Ara Monadjem Leigh Rosanne Richards Corrie Schoeman Theresa Sethusa Peter Taylor
Reviewers: Domitilla Raimondo

Rationale (Changed due to Other)

The species is only known from the northern part of the assessment region (extent of occurrence estimated at 1,419 km2), where it occurs in Pafuri, Kruger National Park. Although it qualifies for Vulnerable D2 based on limited number of locations, there are no plausible threats. While no information exists on population size in the assessment region, it is numerous outside South Africa. Thus we assume the population is fairly large and stable in Kruger National Park. We list this species as Least Concern.

Regional population effects: The subpopulations that occur in northern Kruger National Park are part of a population that is continuous across the border occurring throughout most of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The species overall is widespread in the rest of Africa. Striped Leaf-nosed Bats have a high wing-loading (Norberg & Rayner 1987), and presumably good dispersal potential, and thus rescue effects are possible.

Distribution

Although fairly sparse within its distribution, this species ranges through much of southern, Central and East Africa. The northeastern extent of its range extends from Ethiopia and Somalia to Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. It has a patchy distribution through Central Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, and spreads westwards to Nigeria and Guinea. The southern portion of its distribution includes Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and the extreme northeastern regions of South Africa. Within the assessment area, the species is limited to the Limpopo Province of South Africa, occurring in Pafuri in the northern Kruger National Park (Monadjem et al. 2010). It is absent from Lesotho and Swaziland and most parts of South Africa.

 

Population trend

Trend

There is no information on the number of individuals occurring within the assessment region. It is presumed to be fairly common as it is relatively well represented in museums with over 2020 specimens examined in Monadjem et al. (2010). In other parts of its range, it has been documented in large ancestral roosts, consisting of tens of thousands of individuals, which are known to exhibit extensive migrations (Mickleburgh et al. 2008).


Threats

There are no major threats to this species in the assessment region as it is predominantly restricted to the Kruger National Park protected area. However, in other parts of its range, this large insectivorous species is sensitive to disturbance of its cavernicolous roosts (especially by guano mining). It is also a popular target of bushmeat hunters within its distribution (Monadjem et al. 2010), and in some parts of its range, people have been known to utilise its fat for making candles, as it stores relatively large proportions of fat in its body (Mickleburgh et al. 2008).

 

Uses and trade

There is no evidence to suggest that the species is traded or harvested within the assessment area but the literature suggests that the species is targeted in some areas of its distribution for bushmeat (Monadjem et al. 2010). Additionally, in parts of Africa the fat of this species is utilised in the manufacture of candles (Mickleburgh et al. 2008).

Conservation

This species occurs within the Kruger National Park in the Limpopo Province, thus no species-specific conservation measures are deemed necessary as roost sites are likely to be safe from disturbance within this protected area.
Research priorities:
  • Taxonomic revision is required to clarify the relationship between H. vittatus and H. curtus/H. gigas.
  • Field surveys are needed to generate population size and trend data.
Encouraged citizen actions:
  • Citizens can assist the conservation of the species by reporting sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP), and therefore contribute to an understanding of the species distribution.

References 

[@book{275,
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 author = {Skinner, J.D. and Chimimba, C.T.},
 publisher = {Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom},
 title = {The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion},
 year = {2005}
}
,@book{19529,
 address = {Johannesburg},
 author = {Monadjem, A., Taylor, P.J., Cotterill, F.P.D. and Schoeman M.C.},
 publisher = {University of Witwatersrand Press},
 title = {Bats of Southern and Central Africa: a biogeographic and taxonomic synthesis},
 year = {2010}
}
,@article{64587154,
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 journal = {Science},
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}
,@electronic{4306,
 author = {Mickleburgh, S., Hutson, A.M., Bergmans, W. and Cotterill, F.P.D},
 publisher = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008},
 title = {<i>Hipposideros vittatus</i> },
 year = {2008}
}
,@book{4317,
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 publisher = {Oxford University Press},
 title = {The Mammals of Nigeria},
 year = {1987}
}
,@article{4317,
 author = {Kunz TH, Braun de Torrez E, Bauer D, Lobova T, Fleming TH},
 journal = { Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences},
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}
,@article{4317,
 author = {Norberg UM, Rayner JM},
 journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
 pages = {335–427},
 title = {Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation},
 volume = {316},
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}
,@article{135485,
 author = {Cotterill, F. P. D},
 journal = {Arnoldia (Zim.)},
 number = {17},
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 title = {New distribution records of leaf-nosed bats (Microchiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Zimbabwe},
 volume = {10},
 year = {2001}
}
,@article{135485,
 author = {Cotterill FPD, Fergusson RA},
 journal = {South African Journal of Zoology},
 pages = {53–63},
 title = {Reproductive ecology of Commerson’s leaf-nosed bats <i>Hipposideros commersoni</i> (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in south-central Africa: interactions between seasonality and large body size; and implications for conservation.},
 volume = {34},
 year = {1999}
}
,]
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