What is the first thing that springs to mind when you hear the term “rodent”? Sure, they’ve earned a reputation as pests, invading invaders with ravenous appetites that bring illness and suffering. However, as many rats, mice, or guinea pig owners may attest, they can also be devoted and adorable home pets.
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Yes, it’s adorable. However, magnificent? Beautiful? Most likely not. Perhaps these adorable squirrels can help to change that! The Malabar gigantic squirrel, also known as Shekru, is an Indian native with an extraordinarily stylish multi-colored coat.
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The Malabar is likely to surprise individuals who are more used to seeing the American grey squirrel or its considerably prettier relative, the European red squirrel. To begin, as the name implies, these fascinating creatures are enormous. They are harder to overlook than our own scurrilous companions, stretching as long as 3 feet. However, the vividly blue bushy tail accounts for a large portion of the Malabar’s length.
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These wild creatures, however, may be more difficult to locate than their big size and colorful coat imply. Shades of black, brown, orange, maroon and purple may help them blend in with the forest canopy, where they spend their time flying from tree to tree. This is particularly beneficial for evading predators such as different birds of prey and leopards.
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Malabar isn’t picky about its food and will eat anything available in the trees. They’ll swing about on their large, bushy tails, looking for flowers, bark, seeds, insects, and even bird eggs if they can find them. But keep an eye out for Mother Eagle!
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While nothing is known about the population of this variety of squirrels, it is thought to be dwindling. They are not currently classified as endangered, but they face serious challenges; they are hunted in certain regions of India for their gorgeous fur, and their habitat is rapidly being degraded due to human expansion. They have already vanished entirely in some regions.
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Bored Panda has chatted with Mohammed Farooq, an amateur photographer from the picturesque woodland town of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, South India. He was taken aback this morning when he came upon this adorable animal on his usual stroll.
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“I came to Kodaikanal as a young boy in 1982, when it was much less populated by humans, and it was green all over,” he explained. “I used to see these squirrels jumping from tree to tree all over town, but their number has progressively fallen to extinction.” But now, after almost 34 years, I came upon one! It was a pleasant surprise.”
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Mohammed thinks that the massive influx of people into the renowned vacation resort in the 1990s exacerbated the extinction of the Malabar gigantic squirrel in the region. They seem to be making a return presently, maybe because they have adapted to live among people.
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“I think they are not hunted here,” Mohammed added. “Many individuals in this region have learned to value nature.” I believe the squirrel population is reviving here. They’re returning.”
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The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune, where these strange species are being reared in captivity and researched, is also contributing to their resurgence. “We intended to do genetic research on them,” zoo director Rajkumar Jadhav told The Hindu. “There have been many studies on tigers, but there is so little known about smaller creatures like this one.” They are also analyzing Malabar behaviour to learn how many times the animals mate, how long their gestation cycle is, and how long they live.
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The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune, where these strange species are being reared in captivity and researched, is also contributing to their resurgence. “We intended to do genetic research on them,” zoo director Rajkumar Jadhav told The Hindu. “There have been many studies on tigers, but there is so little known about smaller creatures like this one.” They are also analyzing Malabar behaviour to learn how many times the animals mate, how long their gestation cycle is, and how long they live.
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