Kosrae flying fox

The Kosrae flying fox (Pteropus ualanus) is a megabat of the genus Pteropus found on the island of Kosrae in Micronesia. It has recovered to 2,000 to 3,000 bats but still faces ongoing threats. The French biologist Rene Primevere Lesson first documented it in 1824, identifying it as Pteropus karaudren, a name later recognised as a synonym of Pteropus mariannus, and the Russian biologist Heinrich von Kittlitz collected the first specimen in 1827. Because of its geographic location it is vulnerable to population bottlenecks, and in 1926 it nearly went extinct after a bottleneck caused by an unknown disease. The list of pteropodids gives its IUCN status as endangered.