Iriomote | Wildlife
Mammal
Despite the overall biodiversity being high (a criterion for the World Natural Heritage site listings) there are only a few native species of mammal living on the island. But they all have crucial roles to fulfil. The most notable is the endangered Iriomote wildcat, a top predator of the island which maintains the balance of the ecosystem. The omnivorous Ryukyu wild boars help to cultivate the soil while the Ryukyu flying foxes pollinate the night time flowers and spread the seeds of fruits, and the microbat species eat lots of insects.
Mammals living in Iriomote
- Iriomote cat
- Ryukyu wild boar
- Ryukyu flying fox
- microbats (Rhinolophus perditus perditus, lesser great leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros turpis, and Southeast Asian long fingered bat Miniopterus fuscus)
