Sciurotamias davidianus
Silhouette: Joseph Smit · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The Père David's rock squirrel (Sciurotamias davidianus), also known as the Chinese rock squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to China, where it is found widely in rocky habitats in the eastern and central parts of the country. This largely terrestrial squirrel is overall dull olive-grey with paler underparts, a distinct pale eye-ring and a dark patch on the cheeks. It has sometimes been confused with the rather different –but in colour very variable– Pallas's squirrel; an introduced population in Belgium was first mistakenly identified as Père David's rock squirrel. Wikipedia →
Uncertain0:22
China · 2024
© Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 · XC995969 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Call0:20
China · 2025
© Dave Guo · XC1047251 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:07
China · 2026
© 管牧山 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beijing | 🇨🇳 China |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Pyrénées Animal Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Père David's Rock Squirrel sighting in Beijing on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 8 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Père David's Rock Squirrel in Beijing on a given day, against under 5% in February–June, August–September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Père David's Rock Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Beijing, in our data
Beijing is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Père David's Rock Squirrel sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sciuridae
The closest relatives of the Père David's Rock Squirrel that you can see in Beijing (family Sciuridae, Squirrels) are Eurasian Red Squirrel (about 30%), Pallas's Squirrel (about 20%) and Burunduk (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Père David's Rock Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Beijing (6 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
