Ratufa indica
Silhouette: Joseph Smit · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. This species is endemic to India, with sections of its distribution in the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Satpura Range as far north as Madhya Pradesh (approximately 22° N). It is found at altitudes of 180–2,300 m (590–7,550 ft) in tropical deciduous, semi-deciduous (where often utilizing denser riparian growth), and moist evergreen forests and woodlands. In general, its distribution is fragmented because it is intolerant of habitat degradation. The Indian giant squirrel generally nests in taller trees with a mean height of 11 m (36 ft) (±3 m (10 ft) SD) in order to avoid predators.
The Indian giant squirrel is one of the largest squirrels, with a head–and–body length of 25–50 cm (10–20 in), a tail that is about the same or somewhat longer, and a weight of 1.5–2 kg (3–4 lb), although rarely up to 3 kg (7 lb). Average for both sexes is about 36 cm (1 ft 2 in) in head–and–body length, 45 cm (1 ft 6 in) in tail length and... Wikipedia →
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India · 2022
© Seema Merchant · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
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© Aditya Satish · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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© Aravind_PS · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nehru Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Giant Squirrel sighting in Thrissur on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Giant Squirrel in Thrissur on a given day, against under 5% in April–June, September and November–January, the lowest months. That is one of Thrissur's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain against 10 mm in January.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Giant Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Thrissur, in our data
Thrissur is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Indian Giant Squirrel sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Giant Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Thrissur (5 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.
