Malayan Giant Squirrel

Why in news?

• A first-of-its-kind study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has projected that numbers of the Malayan Giant Squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) could decline by 90 per cent in India by 2050.

About the squirrel:

• The Malayan Giant Squirrel, one of the world’s largest squirrel species that has a dark upper body, pale under parts, and a long, bushy tail.
• It is currently found in parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.
• Destruction of its habitat could restrict the squirrel to only southern Sikkim and North Bengal by 2050, according to the ZSI.
• The Malayan Giant Squirrel is also distributed through Southern China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, the Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java.
• It is found mostly in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, from plains to hills at elevations of 50 m to 1,500 m above sea level.
• It is currently considered near threatened by IUCN red list.
• In India, some 20% of the population of the species is found at elevations between 1,500 m and 2,700m: the rest live in the plains and up to 1,500 m.
• India is home to three giant squirrel species; the other two – Indian Giant Squirrel  (Malabar giant squirrel) and Grizzled Giant Squirrel – are found in peninsular India.
• Giant squirrels are in general diurnal (activity during daytime), arboreal (tree-dwelling) and herbivorous.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following species:
1.Malabar giant squirrel
2.Nilgiri Tahr
3.Indian Wild Ass
Which of the mammals above are endemic to India?
(a)1 and 2 only
(b)2 and 3 only
(c)1 and 3 only
(d)1,2 and 3

Answer to prelims question