Foraging strategies of common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) on native wild prey: insights from camera trap observations

The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is a sanguinivore species widely distributed in the Neotropics. Information on this species prey is scarce, but recent studies provide information on this using camera traps. Despite that, our understanding of how, where, and when vampire bats locate their native wild prey is limited. Based on camera trap data from Amazonian remnant habitats in northern Brazil, we recorded 13 interactions comprising five native mammal species as potential prey, and describe the approach behavior of D. rotundus to these species. Most interactions with vampire bat have been with the giant armadillo, Priodontes maximus. We hypothesized that the high frequency of records in our sampling is likely associated with the increased presence of large mammals foraging beneath fruiting trees. This suggests that foraging dynamics of D. rotundus in natural ecosystems may be linked to fruiting cycles of plants that are typical in the diet of other native mammals.