American Samoa Fruit Bat quarter

[IcyPeas]

I had one of these quarters in my change. I think it's so cute. It's a mama and baby fruit bat.

The reverse (tails) design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image evokes the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness to the species’ threatened status due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat.

[Fla Dem]

1. Also known as the Samoan Flying Fox.

Status
The IUCN lists the Samoan flying fox as being "Near Threatened". Populations of this bat are thought to be in slow decline, but it has a wide range, and it is quite common within that range, and the rate of decline is believed not to be sufficient to justify putting it in a more-threatened category. The main threats it faces are forest clearance and the hunting of it for food. In the 1980s, it was killed commercially for export as a luxury food item, but a stop was put to that trade when it was listed in Appendix I of CITES in 1990.[1] This made it illegal to export it, and hunting since then has been on a smaller scale and only for domestic use. It is present in some national parks and other protected areas which gives it some measure of protection..
2020 American Samoa quarter

2020 American Samoa quarter featuring the Samoa flying fox
In 2018, the U.S. Mint had several candidate designs developed for the 2020 America the Beautiful National Park of American Samoa Quarter, which was in accordance with the act that authorized them. One of the designs features the familiar image of George Washington by John Flanagan, used on the quarter (heads) since 1932. The (tails) of the quarter features a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image represents the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. This design is intended to promote awareness to the threatened status of this species due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only known park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat. The bats on the coins were designed by Richard Masters, who worked as Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Department of Art. The designs were selected by the Citizen's Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the Commission on Fine Art (CFA). The coin was released to the public in February 2020, and will be followed by four other America the Beautiful quarters for the remainder of 2020.[5][6]




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa_flying_fox

[AllaN01Bear]

2. have to look for that one . sez aww.

[IA8IT]

3. Flying Fox Fornication!!!! I got the vapors, Land o Goshen

[Karadeniz]

4. I love it!