On his fateful trip around the world, Ferdinand Magellan first laid claim to Guam for Spain, though the Chamorros were already native to the island. Later the United States claimed it as a U.S. territory. During WWII, the Japanese occupied Guam and renamed it Omiya Jima. After 3 years, the U.S. reclaimed Guam, and it's still a U.S. territory today, like Washington D.C. or the Virgin Islands today. Because of this, Guam has experienced myriads of extinctions. The Chamorros people had hunted fruit bats on Guam for over a thousand years with little impact on their population. After WWII, the Chamorros had access to modern weapons. This made hunting fruit bats, and other species much easier and effective. Although the little Marianas fruit bat was smaller, it was killed because it lived amongst the larger Mariana fruit bat colonies. The fruit bat is a delicacy called 'fanihi' often eaten during weddings, baptisms, or religious holidays. By the 1970's, three years after the extinction of the Guam flying fox, laws were put into place banning fruit bat hunting on Guam. Before the ban, a fruit bat cost $15, but as a "black market" animal it began selling for $25 a bat, so it was still hunted. Though bat hunts on Guam are now illegal, as many as 24,000 fruit bats were killed on other islands and imported to Guam to be eaten in 1980. Though the hunting and cultural clashes of people did affect species in Guam, it was the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake brought during WWII that has led to the extinction of 9 of 11 bird species as well as many native lizard species. This invasive species did well on Guam, so well that portions of the island that used to be filled with birds singing, are now eerily silent. In June of 2020, the U.S. funded $3.4 million, to remove the brown tree snakes from Guam. How do snakes with cat-like eyes and quiet, birdless forests have anything to do with fruit bats? Actually, quite a bit. Without Guam's birds pollinating the fruit trees, the fruit bats have less to eat. With less fruit to eat, there are less fruit bats to eat the fruit and distribute the seeds via its poop. The brown tree snakes' toll on the Guam flying fox were evident, as 36 years after its discovery the last little Marianas fruit bat, a female found at Tarague Cliff in March of 1967 flew away but was never seen again. Could the little Marianas fruit bat live in Guam today? Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Guam flying fox might be a good candidate. Scientists would potentially use DNA from museum specimens to try to bring them back to life. If the Guam flying fox was brought back it would still have to deal with the environmental factors facing the island of Guam. Although the U.S. did fund a project to remove all brown tree snakes from Guam in 2020, the efforts are still a work in progress. The native Chamorros also continue to hunt the larger Mariana fruit bat even though it is illegal. These two factors alone might be too much for the little Marianas fruit bat to overcome in the wild. Breeding programs might be able to be put into place, similar to those used to save the Guam Rail which was extinct in the wild for many years. Either way, the possible return and recovery for the Guam flying fox might be a tough one.