There Are Multi-Colored Giant Squirrels Living In India And People Seem To Have Just Found Out About This (17 Pics)
What first comes to mind when you hear the word ‘rodent?’ Sure, they have acquired a certain reputation as pests, invaders with insatiable appetites who spread disease and misery. But they can also be loyal and cute household pets, as many a rat, mouse or guinea pig owner can confirm.
Image credits: VinodBhattu
So cute, yes. But magnificent? Beautiful? Probably not. Well, maybe these cute squirrels will go some way toward changing that! The Malabar giant squirrel, also known as Shekru, is native to India and comes quite resplendent in an incredibly dapper multi-colored coat.
Image credits: Arshad.ka5
For those more used to seeing the American grey squirrel or its far cuter cousin the Europen red, the Malabar is bound to come as a shock. For starters, as the name suggests, these cool animals are huge. Stretching as long as 3 feet, they are much harder to miss than our own scurrilous buddies. Admittedly though, the brilliantly blue bushy tail accounts for much of the Malabar’s length.
Image credits: Raghu Peethambaran
However, these wild animals may be more difficult to find than their large size and bright coat suggest. The shades of black, brown, and orange, as well as maroon and purple, can assist them in blending perfectly with the forest canopy, where they spend their time leaping from tree to tree. This is especially useful for escaping the attention of predators, such as various birds of prey and also leopards.
Image credits: Yathin S Krishnappa
The Malabar isn’t too fussy about its diet and will eat what’s available up there in the treetops. Using their huge, bushy tails to swing around, they’ll search for flowers, bark, seeds, insects, and even bird eggs if there are any freely available. Just watch out for mother eagle, though!
Image credits: 27Abhay
Image credits: Manojiritty
While not a lot is known about the population of this type of squirrel, their numbers are considered to be declining. At the moment, they are not listed as endangered, but they sadly face real threats; they are hunted in some parts of India for their beautiful fur, and their habitat is getting gradually jeopardized by human encroachment. In some areas, they have already disappeared completely.
Image credits: Gowthaman k.a
Bored Panda spoke to amateur photographer Mohammed Farooq, from the beautiful forest town of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, South India. He had a great surprise this morning, after coming across this cute animal on his daily walk.
Image credits: Arshad.ka5
“I came to Kodaikanal in 1982 as a young boy when this town was much less populated by humans, and it was green all over,” he told us. “I used to see these squirrels all over town, flying from tree to tree, but slowly their population has dwindled to extinction. But today, after nearly 34 years, I encountered one! It was a great surprise for me.”
Image credits: Rakesh Kumar Dogra
Image credits: Dhruvaraj S
Mohammed believes that a sudden explosion of people moving into the popular tourist town in the 1990s was what hastened the decline of the Malabar giant squirrel in the area. But now they appear to be making a comeback, perhaps having adapted to living alongside humans.
Image credits: Mike Prince
Image credits: Shagil Kannur
“They are are not hunted here I believe,” Mohammed explained. “Lots of people in this area have learned to respect nature. I think there is a revival of the squirrel population here. They are coming back.”
Image credits: Joseph Lazer
Further helping the comeback of these weird animals is the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune, where they are being bred in captivity and studied. “We wanted to study them genetically,” zoo director Rajkumar Jadhav told The Hindu. “There are plenty of studies on the tiger, but so little is known about smaller animals like this one.” They are also studying Malabar behavior to understand how many times the animals mate, their gestation period, and their lifespan.
Image credits: Ashutoshdudhatra
Image credits: N. A. Naseer
Image credits: Manoj Ashokkumar
There is also some good news from the wild; the giant squirrel’s population is steadily increasing in the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, an area specifically designed for the protection of the Malabar giant squirrel. A census found that their numbers had climbed 8% in the sanctuary between 2015 and 2016. So it looks like this beautiful and much-loved animal is now getting the respect and protection it deserves in India, and will hopefully be one day as abundant as it once was. Would you like to see one in the wild? Let us know in the comments below!
Here’s what people had to say about the sweet squirrels
135Kviews
Share on FacebookThey are gorgeous but I find them specially interesting. You dont see often mammals with such vivid colours, they are usually more mild. I wonder what pigments do they produce and how.
The original photo seems to imply blues and reds, but really it's just normal blacks, chestnut and blonde shades. It seems more of a camouflage than say a visual cue for mating or warning, but selection could have exacerbated some of the colors, like the size of antlers in bucks.
Load More Replies...They are beautiful but I always get frustrated when people see a cute animal and associate it with "sweet", they're still wild rodents, they're not "sweet". These misleading statements that come from cute pictures like these are what can lead to animal issues from stereotypes later, such as rich people trying to buy one as a pet and then realizing they're too difficult for them to handle resulting in the animals suffering...Sorry, maybe I'm just in a bad mood... -_-
Agreed. I didn't know such a squirrel existed, but would be concerned that they could be bred for pets or hunted for meat. Truly hope they stay wild.
Load More Replies...They aren't true squirrels, but in a related family of rodents. The face gives it away.
It's looks fake, but i googled it, and they're actually real. So wow.... nature at it's best.
The custom is that pranks can only be perpetrated until twelve noon. After that time, anyone who tries to play a prank is himself (or herself) the fool. So this was posted too late.
Load More Replies...I am opposed to potentially creating invasive species, but in my part of the midwest, we are overrun with squirrels originally brought from Norway. It would be great to get a population of these guys here. The other squirrels would be very intimidated :)
ever try a raptor perch? Parents had a rabbit problem in their back yard (their neighbors have a 'natrual vegetation' hillside... so as to not have to mow...) and the rabbits positively disappeared as soon as they installed one.
Load More Replies...The little squirrels in my backyard are plenty good enough thank you very much.
Load More Replies...Yes, people did "just" find out about it, including the original Indian photographer, 39-year-old Kaushik Vijaya. Even he didn't know they existed before he began photographing them. Please don't shame people for not knowing about this beauty (I seriously doubt the author of this article knew about them before they wrote this).
"People Seem To Have Just Found Out About This" in the headline made me think this was a new discovery. But, no, what you really mean is "White People Seem To Have Just Found Out About This," as it's clear from the article that people in India have always known about them. Super cute squirrels, don't get me wrong, just fix that (probably unintentionally) racist headline, eh?
Occidental world notice this animals. they are in serious danger now.
Stunning critters. Those first two photos are mind blowing. I had to do a triple take..checking that tail length...two and a half squirrels long, by my estimation.
They have these at our children's zoo in our town. When I saw them I was a little dumbfounded cause I sort of was like.... Why is this little guy in an exhibit? Really? And its these!! Stupid!
These squirrels are so beautiful, can't stop looking at them, I hope they will live forever !!!
Seems strange I've never heard of these colorful animals before now. Very interesting.
Honestly, I thought this was an "April Fool" joke since I saw it on the 1st of April. I had to go to Nat Geo to verify these beauties are real!
I went to the University of Washington in Seattle, large campus, tons of trees. My family came to visit and a squirrel crossed the path about 50 feet ahead of us. My dad says to my little brothers "hush, don't scare the squirrel!" I said "Daaad, they'll JUMP ON YOU if they think you might have food!"
Are you sure these things are from Earth and not Pandora (Avatar)? Wow!!!
the squirrel. here in the NE outside my window there are gray ones, on the west coast red ones, in india purple and orange ones. something or some entity, nature or whatever designs them as it sees fit. and please don't give me a long explanation about adapation or darwin.
Where can i find these for sale? must have for any household( that isnt allergic lol)!
...you want to buy them? You want to buy these non-domestic, gorgeous, wild animal?
Load More Replies...They look like they would taste like berries. I suddenly want a berry smoothie.
It was posted after noon - rules state that pranks must be before noon otherwise the prankster is themself the fool.
Load More Replies...Is it? When was it posted? April Fools jokes or pranks are only valid before noon and it's gone noon where BP is based.
Load More Replies...They are gorgeous but I find them specially interesting. You dont see often mammals with such vivid colours, they are usually more mild. I wonder what pigments do they produce and how.
The original photo seems to imply blues and reds, but really it's just normal blacks, chestnut and blonde shades. It seems more of a camouflage than say a visual cue for mating or warning, but selection could have exacerbated some of the colors, like the size of antlers in bucks.
Load More Replies...They are beautiful but I always get frustrated when people see a cute animal and associate it with "sweet", they're still wild rodents, they're not "sweet". These misleading statements that come from cute pictures like these are what can lead to animal issues from stereotypes later, such as rich people trying to buy one as a pet and then realizing they're too difficult for them to handle resulting in the animals suffering...Sorry, maybe I'm just in a bad mood... -_-
Agreed. I didn't know such a squirrel existed, but would be concerned that they could be bred for pets or hunted for meat. Truly hope they stay wild.
Load More Replies...They aren't true squirrels, but in a related family of rodents. The face gives it away.
It's looks fake, but i googled it, and they're actually real. So wow.... nature at it's best.
The custom is that pranks can only be perpetrated until twelve noon. After that time, anyone who tries to play a prank is himself (or herself) the fool. So this was posted too late.
Load More Replies...I am opposed to potentially creating invasive species, but in my part of the midwest, we are overrun with squirrels originally brought from Norway. It would be great to get a population of these guys here. The other squirrels would be very intimidated :)
ever try a raptor perch? Parents had a rabbit problem in their back yard (their neighbors have a 'natrual vegetation' hillside... so as to not have to mow...) and the rabbits positively disappeared as soon as they installed one.
Load More Replies...The little squirrels in my backyard are plenty good enough thank you very much.
Load More Replies...Yes, people did "just" find out about it, including the original Indian photographer, 39-year-old Kaushik Vijaya. Even he didn't know they existed before he began photographing them. Please don't shame people for not knowing about this beauty (I seriously doubt the author of this article knew about them before they wrote this).
"People Seem To Have Just Found Out About This" in the headline made me think this was a new discovery. But, no, what you really mean is "White People Seem To Have Just Found Out About This," as it's clear from the article that people in India have always known about them. Super cute squirrels, don't get me wrong, just fix that (probably unintentionally) racist headline, eh?
Occidental world notice this animals. they are in serious danger now.
Stunning critters. Those first two photos are mind blowing. I had to do a triple take..checking that tail length...two and a half squirrels long, by my estimation.
They have these at our children's zoo in our town. When I saw them I was a little dumbfounded cause I sort of was like.... Why is this little guy in an exhibit? Really? And its these!! Stupid!
These squirrels are so beautiful, can't stop looking at them, I hope they will live forever !!!
Seems strange I've never heard of these colorful animals before now. Very interesting.
Honestly, I thought this was an "April Fool" joke since I saw it on the 1st of April. I had to go to Nat Geo to verify these beauties are real!
I went to the University of Washington in Seattle, large campus, tons of trees. My family came to visit and a squirrel crossed the path about 50 feet ahead of us. My dad says to my little brothers "hush, don't scare the squirrel!" I said "Daaad, they'll JUMP ON YOU if they think you might have food!"
Are you sure these things are from Earth and not Pandora (Avatar)? Wow!!!
the squirrel. here in the NE outside my window there are gray ones, on the west coast red ones, in india purple and orange ones. something or some entity, nature or whatever designs them as it sees fit. and please don't give me a long explanation about adapation or darwin.
Where can i find these for sale? must have for any household( that isnt allergic lol)!
...you want to buy them? You want to buy these non-domestic, gorgeous, wild animal?
Load More Replies...They look like they would taste like berries. I suddenly want a berry smoothie.
It was posted after noon - rules state that pranks must be before noon otherwise the prankster is themself the fool.
Load More Replies...Is it? When was it posted? April Fools jokes or pranks are only valid before noon and it's gone noon where BP is based.
Load More Replies...
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