Rodriguez Fruit Bats are gregarious creatures that live in colonies. Where most bats are nocturnal, this species is mainly active at dawn and dusk.
 
Females give birth to one young after a 4–6-month pregnancy. The baby clings to the mother’s fur with its teeth until it is too heavy to be carried, at about one month of age. It then learns to hang like adults, exploring its close surroundings gradually. It can fly at 2 or 3 months but only becomes independent between 6 and 12 months of age.
 
Rodriguez Fruit Bats are endemic to Rodriguez Island and are among the world’s rarest bats. At the end of the 1970s, their total population fell to just 70 as a result of deforestation and cyclones. In the 1980s their numbers rose again and in 1990 there were an estimated 1000+ bats on the island. Today there are around 4,000 but they remain highly endangered, mainly because of the destruction of their environment by cyclones, depriving them of food and shelter.