Straw-coloured fruit bat
Eidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792)
The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) is a species in the family Pteropodidae, order Chiroptera. Recorded adults weigh 253.3 g to 280.4 g and live up to 21.8 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the straw-coloured fruit bat
- Weight
- 253.3 g – 280.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 77.7 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 21.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Frugivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 220 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1 – 1.04src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the straw-coloured fruit bat?
Where does the straw-coloured fruit bat live?
Not recorded
What is the straw-coloured fruit bat?
The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) is a large fruit bat that is the most widely distributed of all the African megabats. It is quite common throughout its area ranging from the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, across forest and savanna zones of sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to a decreasing population trend. Straw-coloured fruit bats travel in massive colonies of at least 100,000 bats and sometimes massing up to 1 million. From October to end of December every year, in the largest migration of mammals on the planet, up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats congregate in Kasanka National Park, Zambia, roosting in a 2 hectares (4.9 acres) area of Mushitu forest each day. This migration was only discovered in 1980. Their necks and backs are a yellowish-brown colour, while their undersides are tawny olive or brownish.
From the Wikipedia article “Straw-coloured fruit bat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Straw-coloured_fruit_bat&oldid=1384684600), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the straw-coloured fruit bat endangered?
The straw-coloured fruit bat is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the straw-coloured fruit bat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderChiroptera
- familyPteropodidae
- genusEidolon
- SpeciesEidolon helvum (Kerr, 1792)
Synonyms Pteropus stramineus, Vespertilio vampyrus
Other names and names in other languages (33)
- African straw-colored fruit batEnglish
- African straw-colored fruit batEnglish
- African straw-coloured fruit batEnglish
- African straw-coloured fruit-batEnglish
- African straw-coloured fruit-batEnglish
- Pale XantharpyEnglish
- Pale XantharpyEnglish
- Staw-coloured flying foxEnglish
- Straw-colored flying foxEnglish
- Straw-colored fruit batEnglish
- Straw-coloured flying foxEnglish
- Yellow fruit-batEnglish
- Geel VrugtevlermuisAfrikaans
- kaloň plavýCzech
- Gul flyvehundDanish
- PalmenflughundGerman
- Afrikanischer PalmenflughundGerman
- Χρυσή ΦρουτονυχτερίδαGreek
- Muercielágo de la Fruta de Color PajizoSpanish
- keltahekkoFinnish
- Roussette pailléeFrench
- Rousette des palmiers africaineFrench
- Roussette paillée africaineFrench
- pálmarepülőkutyaHungarian
- Pipistrello della frutta paglierinoItalian
- ストローオオコウモリJapanese
- PalmeflygehundNorwegian Bokmål
- PalmvleerhondDutch
- Zjawa płowaPolish
- Morcego‑cor‑de‑palhaPortuguese
- Пальмовый крыланRussian
- Соломенноцветный крыланRussian
- ค้างคาวผลไม้สีฟางแอฟริกาThai
Relatives of the straw-coloured fruit bat
Other species in the same genus Eidolon.
Madagascan fruit bat
Eidolon dupreanum
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the straw-coloured fruit bat?
An adult straw-coloured fruit bat weighs 253.3 g – 280.4 g and has a wingspan of 77.7 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the straw-coloured fruit bat endangered?
The straw-coloured fruit bat is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
How long does the straw-coloured fruit bat live?
The straw-coloured fruit bat has a recorded lifespan of 21.8 years.
How long is the straw-coloured fruit bat pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 220 days.
What kind of animal is the straw-coloured fruit bat?
The straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) belongs to the family Pteropodidae in the order Chiroptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/straw-coloured-fruit-bat
“Straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/straw-coloured-fruit-bat.
@misc{straw_coloured_fruit_bat_2026,
title = {Straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/straw-coloured-fruit-bat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}