Photo of human-sized bat in the Philippines baffles social media users

On June 24, a Twitter user with the handle@AlexJoestar622 shared an image of a giantgolden-crowned flying fox hanging from awire attached to the roof of a building.“Remember when I told y’all aboutthe Philippines having human-sizedbats?” the user asked. “Yeah, thiswas what I was talking about”.The photo, which first went viralon Reddit in 2018, has since receivednearly 270,000 likes and morethan 72,000 comments.“Just imagine this bat waking up andflying straight at you,” one user wrotein response. “I’d leave the country”.“This bat is taller than me and [I’m] both horrifiedand impressed in equal measure,” another added.While the picture may seem edited, fact-checkingwebsite Snopes confirmed its authenticity in 2019.The giant golden-crown flying fox is native to thePhilippines and can have a wingspan of 5 feet 6 inches,according to Bat Conservation International.The bat only feeds on fruits and cannormally be found in undisturbed forests.The organization notes that the golden-crownflying fox plays an important role in “multipleforest ecosystems in which it lives”.Unfortunately, it is an endangered speciesas a result of deforestation and hunting