The Hindu
Grizzled Giant Squirrel. File photo
Researchers are looking into the ecology of one of the least studied species of an elusive animal, the Grizzled Giant Squirrel.
The
Indian population of the arboreal rodent species is believed to be
around 500 and the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary houses around 150 of them,
the only place from where the rodent species has been reported in the
State.
In rest of the country, the population of the
smallest of the giant squirrels in India has been reported from
Srivalliputhur in Tamil Nadu and Cauvery in Karnataka. Researchers are
clueless about the limited population of the species as its cousins
breed and survive in large numbers in the forests of the country. The
species is found in good numbers in Sri Lanka too.
“There
are a good number of Malabar Giant Squirrels, the other giant squirrel
species found in Kerala, and Black Giant Squirrels, also known as
Malayan Giant Squirrel, found in the forests of northeast,” researchers
of the College of Forestry of the Kerala Agriculture University,
Thrissur, said.
The population of the Malabar variety
is supposed to be over 5,000 in the country and confined to south
Indian States. The grizzled species had a low rate of reproduction and
was more vulnerable to risks of survival, researchers said.
Scientific
literature describes the animal, also known as Sri Lankan Giant
Squirrel, as one with “brownish-grey colour and pale hair tips giving it
a grizzled look. Its underside is dirty white. The ears, crown and
dorsal midline are dark brown or black. The ears are short, round and
often tufted. The tail is as long or longer than head and body and has
long pale hair, making it look greyish when compared to the tails of
other sub-species.”
It was in 1993 that a primary research was first done on the species. Since then, it escaped the attention of researchers.
The
squirrel is believed to be feeding on fruits, flowers and leaves of
trees. However, no specific information is available on the feeding and
breeding habits of the species, which has been classified as Near
Threatened in the Red list of the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN).
