Plantain Squirrel

Plantain Squirrel

Callosciurus notatus

Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Tanjung Puting National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

14 Verified sightings at Tanjung Puting National Park From 2019 to 2026
202 In all 8 parks
September Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Plantain Squirrel

The plantain squirrel, oriental squirrel or tricoloured squirrel (Callosciurus notatus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves, parks, gardens, and agricultural areas. Fruit farmers consider them to be pests.

Its body is about 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long with a similar-sized tail. Its weight can vary from 160 to 259 g (5.6 to 9.1 oz). It is greyish/brown with a chestnut belly and a black and white stripe on the side. It is very quick and agile in trees, able to jump a few metres between trees, and rarely wanders on the ground.

Like all rodents, it has two large upper and lower incisors. Its chestnut belly easily distinguishes it from the similar black-striped squirrel, which has a grey belly. The plantain squirrel is diurnal. It is either solitary or social in small groups, wherein squirrels communicate with shrill chirps and chattering while showing off their tails. These high calls may be alarms responding to the presence of a predator. Different types of predators prompt different calls and elicit different responses in the squirrel. A snake... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:08

Singapore · 2026

© Joan Theng · XC1104636 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:44

Malaysia · 2023

© Daan Drukker · XC959718 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:20

Singapore · 2026

© Ding Li Yong · XC1069984 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Bako National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~60%
2 Bali Barat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~50%
3 Tanjung Puting National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~40%
4 Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
5 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
6 Sepilok 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~30%
7 Gunung Leuser National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~20%
8 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Denpasar 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~80%
2 Kuching 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~50%
3 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
~40%
4 Johor Bahru 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~40%
5 Surabaya 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~40%
6 Yogyakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~40%
7 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~40%
8 Jakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~40%
9 Bandung 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens 🇨🇳 China In captivity
2 Prospect Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 Bergen Aquarium 🇳🇴 Norway In captivity
4 Edward Youde Aviary 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Plantain Squirrel in Tanjung Puting National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Plantain Squirrel sighting in Tanjung Puting National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 9 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Plantain Squirrel in Tanjung Puting National Park?

May and September

In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Plantain Squirrel in Tanjung Puting National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March and December–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Plantain Squirrel?

Between 2 and 5 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Plantain Squirrel sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Tanjung Puting National Park the best place to see a Plantain Squirrel?

3rd of 8

Of the 8 parks where we can rate Plantain Squirrel sightings, Tanjung Puting National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Bako National Park (Malaysia, about 60%) and Bali Barat National Park (Indonesia, about 50%). All parks ranked.

Where does the Plantain Squirrel sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Plantain Squirrel is recorded against all the mammals logged in Tanjung Puting National Park (14 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.

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