Toba Fu

There is a large ecological and wildlife preserve on the Island of Cebi Jubi which is the home to over 8 million bats. On the island, as on many islands in the Indo-Pacific, bats are the only vertebrate pollinators and seed dispersers. The elimination of these bats would cause seed dispersal and tree reproduction to cease. Many of the Island's trees have designed their flowers for the exclusive use of bats. Bat pollinated flowers tend to be large, and white with a dank odor which bats find appealing. The flowers have long stamens designed so that a bat's wing will brush against them and pick up pollen as the bat laps nectar. The pollen is then brushed onto the next flower the bat visits.

Bats are the only major predators of night-flying insects including mosquitoes. One bat may eat up to 3,000 insects in a night. Most of the country's bat species eat only insects and can catch up to six hundred mosquitoes in an hour. Much cheaper and more effective than an electric bug zapper. Some bats capture insects in mid-flight while others grab them off the surfaces of leaves and trees.

There are 59 different species of bats on Matangi Island ranging in size from a 5 lb Flying Fox (which has a four foot wingspan) down to the Gnatty Bat which weighs only 1/3 the size of a penny. They find their prey primarily through echo location. Bats fly with their mouths open, not to look vicious, but because they are echo locating. Almost all echo locating calls are out of the range of human hearing, in the 9 - 200 kilohertz range.

The bats are revered by the indigenous people of the Island and there are many ancient tales about the deity Toba Fu, who was the Island's very first leader. Toba Fu was a hero bat or bat-man who taught people all they needed to know as human beings and first created fire. Like the ancient Chinese, Matangi Island natives regard the bat as a symbol for prosperity, good fortune, long life, health, and happiness.

The bats also provide a rich source of guano, or droppings which is one of the island's main exports. Guano has been widely used for centuries as a fertilizer to increase crop yields. The Matangi Island guano is especially valuable because of the lack of rain on the mountains where the bats roost. The accumulated droppings are baked in the dry atmosphere which preserves the nitrates in those droppings from evaporating, thus maintaining its effectiveness.

In addition to bats, there are several species of birdlife on the island as well as foxes, rodents, Gizney crabs and a rare spotted pygmy rhino.

Sea Donkey

The reefs of Matangi contain an amazing variety of sea life including rays, lobsters, sea donkeys, crabs, Jibboa eels, whales, sharks and millions of brightly colored fish.

See the Flora Information Page.