Petaurista philippensis
Silhouette: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (photograph) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Indian giant flying squirrel (Petaurista philippensis), also called the large brown flying squirrel or the common giant flying squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is capable of gliding flight using a skin membrane, the patagium, stretched between front and hind legs. It is found in mainland Southeast and South Asia, and southern and central China.
This is a large species, with a head and body length of about 43 cm and a tail of 50–52 cm. It has black to gray-brown fur, long and soft on the upper parts and somewhat shorter underneath the body, with a grizzled appearance. A wing membrane between the forelimb and hindlimb, paler coloured underneath, allows gliding between trees. The tail is hairy and blackish to gray-brown, the feet are black, and the nose is pale pink with black vibrissae.
Its taxonomy is very complex and not fully resolved. Up until the 1980s, some authorities even listed the Indian giant flying squirrel itself as a subspecies of the red giant flying squirrel (P. petaurista). In 2005, Mammal Species of the World included grandis, yunanensis, hainana, nigra, rubicundus and rufipes (last four as synonyms of... Wikipedia →
Recording0:19
India · 2021
© Aravind_PS · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:03
Thailand · 2026
© Zac Peterson · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
No species of the same family or order lives in Kanha National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Giant Flying Squirrel sighting in Kanha National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 16 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Giant Flying Squirrel in Kanha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May and October–March, the lowest months. That is one of Kanha National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 430 mm in July.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Giant Flying Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Indian Giant Flying Squirrel sightings, Kanha National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Giant Flying Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Kanha National Park (7 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
