O’SHEA, CRYAN & BOGAN: UNITED STATES BAT SPECIES OF CONCERN 
13 
Management Practices and Concerns. — Daylight activity makes Samoan flying foxes 
vulnerable to human hunting (Banack and Grant, 2003). Shooting (including by sling-shot) has 
been a major concern. Cox (1983) reported that in the mountains of Tapatapao on Upolo Island the 
numbers taken by hunters dropped from 30 in 1979 to nine in 1980 and zero in 1981. Due to 
demand as a delicacy in Guam, exports of fruit bats ( P. samoensis and P. tonganus ) increased dur¬ 
ing the mid-1980’s from 30 to 540 bats per year before 1983 to 1,632 bats exported in 1984 (Wiles, 
1992). Commercial hunting and export of fruit bats from American Samoa was banned in 1986, 
and local hunting regulations instituted with bag-limits of seven per day, a three-month season, and 
prohibition of daytime hunting. This was followed by a Territorial government three-year ban on 
all hunting in 1992 (Craig et al., 1994), which may not have been well enforced (Pierson et al., 
1996a). Major public education campaigns have taken place to help improve conservation of fruit 
bats in American Samoa (Daschback, 1990). Nonetheless, illegal hunting was not eliminated 
(Brooke et al., 2000). Population modeling by Craig et al. (1994) suggests that recovery is unlike¬ 
ly if hunting occurs at a rate considered typical. However, more recent observations suggest that 
estimates for model parameters may have been too conservative, and that closely managed hunting 
might even provide a tool for more effective population monitoring (Utzurrum et ah, 2003). 
Severe hurricanes (cyclones) superimposed a major impact over pressures from hunting. Hur¬ 
ricane Ofa in 1990 and Val in 1991 resulted in direct mortality, major alterations of habitat that 
included extensive defoliation of trees, and destruction of food plants in natural areas with subse¬ 
quent starvation (Daschback, 1990; Craig and Syron, 1992). Fruit bats left forest habitats after Hur¬ 
ricane Ofa, the most severe storm since the early 1800’s, and entered agricultural areas and villages 
in search of food, making them more susceptible to local hunting: the opportunistic harvest record¬ 
ed on Tutuila in 1990 was extremely high (Daschback, 1990; Craig et ah, 1994). However, the vast 
majority of these were Pacific flying foxes, not Samoan flying foxes (Pierson et ah, 1996a). Unlike 
Pacific flying foxes, Samoan flying foxes were able to persist on leaves, petioles, and fleshy bracts 
of several storm-resistant plants immediately after the cyclones and were able to feed in closer 
proximity to roosts (Pierson et ah, 1996a); foraging effort, however, increased after the cyclones 
(Grant et ah, 1997). 
Brooke (2001) concluded that the long-term survival of Samoan flying foxes on American 
Samoa will depend on the preservation of continuous, relatively undisturbed forest tracts and lim¬ 
ited hunting. Rain forest reserves have been established that help protect the Samoan flying fox in 
the nation of Samoa, and populations in American Samoa also occur in protected zones (including 
de facto reserves on private land). The number of roost sites for these bats increased or remained 
stable in reserve areas after the damage from cyclones, but generally decreased outside of reserves 
(Pierson et ah, 1996a). Although their adequacy for long-term survival of Samoan flying fox pop¬ 
ulations has been questioned, the two reserves in Samoa (totaling 10,000 ha) are thought to be suf¬ 
ficient for short-term maintenance of small populations of these bats even after severe storms, in 
part due to undamaged forest protected by volcanic craters; design of future reserves should 
include areas with high topographic complexity that will be more likely to survive storms with veg¬ 
etation intact (Pierson et ah, 1996a). Based on mitochondrial DNA analysis, it has been suggested 
that inter-island dispersal of Samoan flying foxes may be low, and that should populations become 
extinct on individual islands in the future active translocation of individuals may be a needed man¬ 
agement strategy (Russell et ah, 2016). 
Samoan flying foxes and the more widespread Pacific flying foxes have co-existed with 
islanders for thousands of years, and play a conspicuous role in tradition and folklore (Sinavaiana 
and Enright, 1992). Despite tolerance of some human activities (Brooke et ah, 2000), monitoring 
of roost sites on Alva Ridge in American Samoa suggests abandonment coincidental to increased 
