BAT SPECIES IN THE FORESTS RESERVES OF PENANG ISLAND AFTER 2010: WITH TWO MORE NEW RECORDS FILED

Bat communities in Old World tropical rainforests serve various ecological roles to sustain their habitats, yet may be vulnerable to the loss of their natural habitats. Moreover, the exact biological and ecological roles of the majority of the bats in Penang Island are still understudied. Therefore, we conducted surveys at four selected primary forest reserves (Bukit Genting, Penang National Park, Relau and Teluk Bahang) on Penang Island to determine the forest bat species currently living on the island. This study was conducted using harp traps and mist nets from February 2015 to August 2016. A total of 135 individuals, four families and 11 species of bats were caught with an average capture rate of 2.7 bats per harp-trap night and 4.05×10-3 bats per mist-net metre square hour. Cynopterus brachyotis was the only Pteropodids species recorded and Rhinolophus affinis has the highest capture number in our surveys. Along with Coelops frithii reported earlier, two new species, namely Myotis muricola and Phoniscus jagorii, were documented for the first time in Penang Island, indicating that the forest bat community here is still undersurveyed. Our survey results suggested that the primary forests on Penang Island are valuable for bat conservation in terms of hosting uncommon forest species.