Is the viral pic of monstrous human-sized bat actually real? Here’s the truth

One of the most viral photos that created a sensation on social media was the recent 'human-sized' bat pic. The photo showcases a giant human-sized bat hanging upside down from a roof in the Philippines which has now taken the internet by storm. The post was initially shared on June 24, 2020, and has since then garnered over 270K likes and 109.6K retweets. Check it out below:

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Giant human-sized bat

Ever since the photo was shared on the internet, many netizens have deemed it to be fake. As seen recently, a number of fabricated posts make their way to the social media and garner major traction. But this post shared by Twitter user AlexJoestar622 is indeed not fake. 

According to various fact-checking portals on the internet, the 'human-sized bat' actually exists in the real world even if they look like straight out of a horror-fiction novel. There has been some confusion about the exact species of the bat photographed but the general consensus is that the photo is of a giant golden-crowned fox. One of the residents from the Philippines also stepped forward and confirmed that the human-sized bat in the photograph actually exists. 

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Whereas some netizens also expressed their concern writing that the bat in the photograph may be dangerous to humans. But the same user came forward and wrote 'Purely vegetarian'. They eat a variety of fruits (sometimes you see fruits hanging on trees with bites in them, sometimes they already fell on the ground). We have a variety of fruit trees back home like mango, star apple, some others I don't know but they eat more guava.'

The giant golden-crowned flying fox is also regarded as the golden-capped fruit bat. The name 'fruit bat' has been associated with this species of megabats as they predominantly eat fruits and figs, being primarily frugivorous. The flying fox bats are the largest species of bats in the world with a wingspan growing over 5 feet. But, their body length cannot be compared to the size of an average human being. The bats, though look scary and big actually grow up to only over a foot in length and weigh only little over 3 pounds. 

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