Rodrigues Fruitbat Hits Twenty Three

This article from the Detroit News noted the fact that Tanner, a Rodrigues Fruitbat at Cranbrook Institute in Bloomfield Hills, celebrated his 23rd birthday late last month. As they only live to be about 20 in the wild, that's great going.

"He's in good health. He's retired," Organization for Bat Conservation director Rob Mies said.
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By his species' standards Tanner is a senior citizen.

Only about 4,000 of the large, fruit-eating bats still live on tiny Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean.
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Tanner had been the second oldest of the 1,000 or so golden bats in captivity until a few months ago when a 23-year-old female died at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo. He's also three years older than others in captivity.

Their ages are confirmed because each of the captive bats are registered worldwide, Mies said.