The sun breaks over the horizon on Wednesday, March 26, at the Bird Island Lookout survey station, where one fanihi or fruit bat was recorded during the annual Fanihi Count.
THE Division of Fish and Wildlife’s annual Fanihi Count took place on Saipan and Tinian on Wednesday, March 26, from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. at various survey stations on both islands.
It was conducted in partnership with the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Conservation Investment.
According to DFW Wildlife Section Supervisor Henry Fandel, for Saipan there were a total of nine survey stations at Tapochao, Obyan, Laderan Banadero, Kagman, Agingan and other sites.
DFW staff and volunteers recorded 38 fruit bats, locally known as fanihi, on Saipan, and five on Tinian.
Fandel said that in 2024, volunteers and staff counted 56 sightings across 16 stations.
On Wednesday morning, Variety joined DFW assistant wildlife biologist Frances Sablan at the Bird Island Lookout survey station in Marpi.
Sablan said DFW conducts the survey in order to see how the fruit bats are distributed across Tinian and Saipan.
“One of our main objectives is to get the [fanihi] population to bounce back,” Sablan said. “”We know of some healthy colonies here, which is nice, but they’re nowhere near the number of colonies that Rota has.”
Sablan said that on Rota, she has personally encountered three colonies, each with hundreds of fruit bats. On Saipan, she knows of three to five colonies, some of which have between 10 and 20 fruit bats.
“[Fanihi] love native fruits,” she said. “The distribution of pandanus on Rota is islandwide, whereas here [on Saipan], you have patches of native forest mixed with secondary [forest].”
Sablan said the native forest consists of indigenous and endemic plant species, while the secondary forest includes introduced species, such as tangantangan.
“[Fanihi] love coconut, pandanus fruit, bananas occasionally, mountain apples. Any fruiting tree, they’ll be there. If it’s mango season…that will be another attraction,” Sablan said.
She was at Bird Island Lookout during last year’s count, where she recorded one sighting. On the morning of this year’s count, Variety spotted one fanihi.
Sablan said the timeframe of the Fanihi Count coincides with the period when fruit bats return to their roosting areas after foraging for food at night.
During the Fanihi Count, Sablan was tasked with monitoring a 180-degree field of vision. She knew when the animal spotted was a fruit bat because of its “distinct” way of flapping its wings.
“Birds tend to consistently flap their wings or glide. For fruit bats it’s a slower fluctuation of the wings,” she said.
The data collected by Sablan and other DFW staff will be aggregated and analyzed.
The fruit bat is considered a culinary delicacy by Chamorros and other Pacific islanders, and is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
