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The poorly studied bat fauna of the Fiji Islands is of notable conservation importance because it includes one endemic species, several near endemics, and the best global populations of several threatened species. In addition, some of the species play a keystone role as pollinators and seed dispersers in valuable forest ecosystems. We visited 30 islands of the archipelago to survey bats and assess their conservation status and the potential threats to their continued existence. The Vulnerable Notopteris macdonaldi occurs on the three main islands but may only have nurseries on one of them. The Critically Endangered, endemic Mirimiri acrodonta appears to be restricted to a small montane area on a single island. Pteropus tonganus is consumed throughout rural Fiji but remains common and is not currently threatened by the harvest. The Near Threatened Pteropus samoensis is locally common on the largest islands but threatened on some smaller islands. The Endangered Chaerephon bregullae exists only on two islands and appears to concentrate in a single large colony to nurse young. The Endangered Emballonura semicaudata has declined dramatically in Fiji, as across most of its range, although a few substantial populations remain on some small islands. Factors threatening these species are variable but include small ranges, concentration in a reduced number of colonies, deforestation, over-harvesting, and introduced predators. We propose conservation measures and indicate a number of priority sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endemic Fijian crested iguana Brachylophus vitiensis, categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, has been recorded from several islands in western Fiji. We conducted a survey for the crested iguana on 12 uninhabited and five inhabited islands in the Yasawa and Mamanuca archipelagos of western Fiji in September 2000. Night searches for sleeping iguanas along a total of 11.2 km of forest transects suggest that crested iguanas are either extremely rare or extinct on all of these islands. Although we collectively searched a total of 44 km of transect over 123 person hours, we located crested iguanas on only four islands: three small uninhabited islands (all <73 ha) and one large inhabited island (22 km). In July 2003 we resurveyed two islands identified as having the best potential for the long-term conservation of crested iguanas, and found that populations were continuing to decline. We suggest that the scarcity of crested iguanas on all islands surveyed is due to the combination of habitat loss and the introduction of exotic predators. All islands surveyed have free ranging goats, forest fires have occurred repeatedly over the last few decades, and feral cats are established on many islands. To reverse the population decline of this species immediate intervention is required on selected islands to halt continuing forest degradation and to clarify the effects of introduced predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]