**2.1. Family Pteropodidae**

**1. Introduction to area**

KP covers a land area of 74,521 Km2

kush Mountain range in the north.

forest, sub alpine scrubs and alpine meadows [1].

57′ North latitude and 69<sup>o</sup>

31o

82 Bats

15′ and 36<sup>o</sup>

The northwestern part of Pakistan that has recently been named by the provincial government as "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)" possesses a unique physiographic diversity. It lies between

5′ and 74<sup>o</sup>

North West of the Province. Punjab and Balochistan provinces lie in the south and Gilgit Baltistan, Kashmir and parts of the Punjab Province bound the eastern parts of the Province.

The Province is highly diverse in topography. It comprises of big plains, extensive deserts, low hills and high mountains. The province shares vast stretches of the world-known Karakoram, the Hindu kush and Himalayan Mountain ranges. The altitude ranges from 300 m at Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) in the south to 7690 m at Tirich Mir, the highest peak in the Hindu

Flora of KP is equally diverse. About nine distinct vegetation types exist in the province. These include Riverain forest, Tropical thorn forest, Mazri palm scrub, and subtropical sub humid forest, subtropical humid Chir pine forest, moist temperate conifer forest, temperate Conifer

Owing to extraordinary physio-climatic features, the province is rich in wildlife resources. Its broad altitudinal (174–7690 m asl) and climatic range (temperature: −5 to 50°C; average annual precipitation: 1000–1200 mm; rainfall: 230–250 mm; annual average snowfall: 3 ft. (at only Lowari Top)) make it an excellent refuge for country's most prominent wild animal species. The province provides refuge to five out of six wild pheasant species, i.e., the western horned tragopan (*Tragopan melanocephalus*), the Himalayan monal (*Lophophorus impejanus*), the white-crested kalij (*Lophura leucomelanos hamiltonii*), the cheer pheasant (*Catreus wallichi*) and the koklas (*Pucrasia macrolopha*). It is also a home for four sub-species of markhor, i.e., the Kashmir markhor (*Capra falconeri cashmiriensis*), the Astor markhor (*C. f. falconeri*), the Kabul markhor (*C. f. megaceros*), and the Suleiman markhor (*C. f. jerdoni*). Two species of urial, the Punjab urial (*Ovis orientalis punjabiensis*) and the Ladakh urial (*O. v. vignei*), two species of bear, i.e., the Himalayan brown bear (*Ursus arctos*) and the Asiatic black bear (*Selenarctos thibetanus*) and one sub-species of the Balochistan black bear (*S. t. gedrosianus*) are also present here. In addition, five species of partridges, i.e., the chukar partridge (*Alectoris chukar*), the snow partridge (*Lerwa lerwa*)*,* the see-see partridge (*Ammoperdix griseogularis*), the gray partridge (*Francolinus pondicerianus*), and the black partridge (*F. francolinus*) are also found in this province [2–4]. Owing to its ornithological importance, the Plass Valley has been designated as one of the global hot spot of biodiversity [5].

In spite of the presence of a rich and diverse wildlife, little attention has been paid to explore bat fauna of the north-western part of the country. Most of the available literature on bat fauna of this region has been contributed by foreigners, before partition of India and Pakistan, during the British reign. Since no comprehensive and updated field study is available, bat

Literature survey has revealed that bat fauna of the KP consists of four families, 13 genera and 29 species representing more than a half of the bats of the country. These bat families include

biologists still rely on [2, 6–13] for authenticity of their findings.

with a population of 30.52 million.

7′ East longitude. Afghanistan lies in the

Three species of fruit bats were recorded from Malakand division. These included the Indian flying fox *Pteropus giganteus* Brünnich 1782, the fulvous fruit bat *Rousettus leschenaultii* Desmarest, 1820, and the short-nosed fruit bat *Cynopterus sphinx* Vahl, 1797.
