The Christmas Island flying fox is endemic to the 135 km² (52 sq mi) Christmas Island,  and was described by the first settlers in the 1890s as very common.
British palaeontologist Charles William Andrews, on his 1897 visit to the island, reported hundreds of flying foxes covering a dead tree.
In 1947, British naturalist Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill also reported the flying fox as plentiful, and described them as somewhat of a nuisance for destroying fruit crops, especially papaya.

A 1984 survey reported a population of about 6,000 individuals, and 3,500 of these roosted in six colonies along the coastline: Middle Point (breeding colony), Daniel Roux Cave (bachelor colony), Ethel Beach (juvenile colony), Hosnies Spring (breeding colony with a population of 2,000), Greta Beach (breeding and juvenile colony), and McMicken Point.
Colonies may hug the coastline due to the greater amount of food resources there.
It seasonally aggregates to certain roosts, possibly related to mating behavior, and most desert roosts during the wet season.

The remaining 2,500 were scattered across the island, roosting either solitarily or in small groups of three or four individuals, and moved freely about the island rather than remaining sedentary.
The Christmas Island flying fox has been observed roosting in 13 different tree species: the powder-puff tree, the black mangrove, the stinkwood Celtis timorensis, the Malayan banyan, the sea randa, the helicopter tree, the sea hibiscus, the guest tree, the dogbane Ochrosia ackeringae, the parasol leaf tree, the grand devil's-claws, Syzygium nervosum, and the beach almond.
Roosts tend to be in the wind-exposed canopy to aid in take-off.

The population drastically declined by 2006; the reported population of 1,500–2,000 represented a 66–75% decline.
The former three of the six colonies have been abandoned, and the remaining housed no more than 500–1,400 individuals.
Anecdotal evidence suggests decline during the mid-1990s, possibly starting in 1988.
Population continued to decline by 35–39% between 2006 and 2012, indicating the cause of decline has not been adequately dealt with yet.
The Christmas Island flying fox is endemic to the 135 km² (52 sq mi) Christmas Island,  and was described by the first settlers in the 1890s as very common. British palaeontologist Charles William Andrews, on his 1897 visit to the island, reported hundreds of flying foxes covering a dead tree. In 1947, British naturalist Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill also reported the flying fox as plentiful, and described them as somewhat of a nuisance for destroying fruit crops, especially papaya.
A 1984 survey reported a population of about 6,000 individuals, and 3,500 of these roosted in six colonies along the coastline: Middle Point (breeding colony), Daniel Roux Cave (bachelor colony), Ethel Beach (juvenile colony), Hosnies Spring (breeding colony with a population of 2,000), Greta Beach (breeding and juvenile colony), and McMicken Point. Colonies may hug the coastline due to the greater amount of food resources there. It seasonally aggregates to certain roosts, possibly related to mating behavior, and most desert roosts during the wet season.
The remaining 2,500 were scattered across the island, roosting either solitarily or in small groups of three or four individuals, and moved freely about the island rather than remaining sedentary. The Christmas Island flying fox has been observed roosting in 13 different tree species: the powder-puff tree, the black mangrove, the stinkwood Celtis timorensis, the Malayan banyan, the sea randa, the helicopter tree, the sea hibiscus, the guest tree, the dogbane Ochrosia ackeringae, the parasol leaf tree, the grand devil's-claws, Syzygium nervosum, and the beach almond. Roosts tend to be in the wind-exposed canopy to aid in take-off.
The population drastically declined by 2006; the reported population of 1,500–2,000 represented a 66–75% decline. The former three of the six colonies have been abandoned, and the remaining housed no more than 500–1,400 individuals. Anecdotal evidence suggests decline during the mid-1990s, possibly starting in 1988. Population continued to decline by 35–39% between 2006 and 2012, indicating the cause of decline has not been adequately dealt with yet.
Christmas Island flying fox