Many bats, including some small-bodied tropical and subtropical Pteropodidae, use torpor to offset energetic constraints. We tested the hypothesis that medium-sized (110–160 g) cave-roosting Egyptian rousette bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) at the southern extent of their range are able to employ torpor. We measured daytime body temperatures (T_b) of 9 wild individuals using implanted temperature-sensitive radiotransmitters. The bats roosted in a cave on Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa (a typically cool and wet area). Daily mean cave temperature (T_c) ranged between 7°C and 12°C (mean 9.3°C). All wild individuals exhibited a circadian cycle in T_b, with an average of 37.7°C upon return from foraging, decreasing to 35.5°C by mid-day. Before emergence for feeding, T_b increased to about 37°C. No individual allowed T_b to drop below 34°C indicating (assuming a threshold temperature of 30°C) that individuals in this population do not use torpor. Bats were active throughout the day within the roost and metabolic heat production may have contributed to the maintenance of rest-phase T_b. Ten individuals implanted with temperature-sensitive passive integrated transponder tags were held in captivity at temperatures of 25–30°C and subjected to food deprivation for 2–3 days. The lowest T_b recorded for any captive individual was 33.4°C despite losing an average of 10% of their initial body mass. Despite exposure to cool T_a in the cave, and often cold, wet, and windy conditions while foraging, or substantial food restriction in captive bats, R. aegyptiacus did not resort to using torpor.