Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2023 | 15(5): 23266–23269
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8217.15.5.23266-23269
#8217 | Received 03 October 2022 | Final
received 02 May 2023 | Finally accepted 05 May 2023
First photographic record of the Indian Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista philippensis
Elliot, 1839 (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India
Phalguni Sarathi
Mallik 1, Nimain Charan
Palei 2 & Bhakta Padarbinda
Rath 3
1 Bamra (Wildlife) Division, Bamra, Sambalpur, Odisha 768221, India.
2,3 Office of the
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden,
Odisha, Prakruti Bhawan, Plot No. 1459, Green
Park Nursery, Sahidnagar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751007,
India.
1 phalgunisarathi@gmail.com
2 wildpalei@gmail.com (corresponding author), 3 bhaktamca@gmail.com
Editor: Honnavalli N. Kumara, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural
History, Coimbatore, India. Date
of publication: 26 May 2023 (online & print)
Citation: Mallik, P.S., N.C. Palei
& B.P. Rath (2023). First photographic record of the
Indian Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista philippensis Elliot, 1839 (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Badrama Wildlife
Sanctuary, Odisha, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(5): 23266–23269. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8217.15.5.23266-23269
Copyright: © Mallik et al. 2023. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Odisha Forest Department.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We express our
sincere thanks to principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) & chief
wildlife warden, Government of Odisha for permitting us to carry out this
research work in Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary, needs to
mention for his keen interest, support and advice. We are thankful to
divisional forest officers, Bamra Wildlife Division,
for timely guidance and support in data collection of the study area. We are
thankful to the forest range officer, Badrama
Wildlife Range of Bamra Wildlife Division for his
valuable support in field levels other field staff of who accompanied us in
various field trips and provided other valuable field information. We are also
thankful to foresters and forest guards who helped us during the field work in Badrama Wildlife Range. We are thankful to the all workers
of Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary for their co-operation
in the field work and without who’s our research work could not be completed.
The Indian Giant
Flying Squirrel (IGFS) Petaurista philippensis is solitary, nocturnal, and arboreal, and
has a wide distribution in China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan,
Thailand, and Vietnam. It inhabits dry deciduous and evergreen forests, usually
at elevations from 500–2,000 m and has been recorded in plantations (Walston et
al. 2016). Currently, 44 species of flying squirrels belonging to 15 genera are
recognized world over, with the majority (14 of the 15 genera and 42 of the 44
species) occurring in Eurasia, especially southeastern Asia (Thorington & Hoffmann 2005). So far 14 species of
flying squirrels are being reported from India (Koli
et al. 2013a; Sharma et al. 2013; Koli 2015; Krishna
et al. 2016), and mainly found in the Himalayan and the northeastern
regions, while the Western Ghats holds only two species (Petaurista
philippensis and Petinomys
fuscocapillus) (Sharma et al. 2013). The
distribution of IGFS is restricted and scattered. It has been identified from
Gujarat (Nisha & Dharaiya 2016), Andhra Pradesh (Sreekar et al. 2012), Karnataka (Nandini 2000; Kumara & Singh 2004, 2006), Kerala & Tamil Nadu (Rajamani 2000; Umapathy &
Kumar 2000; Nandini 2001), Maharashtra (Nandini 2001), Madhya Pradesh &
southern Rajasthan (Tehsin 1980; Chundawat
et al. 2002; Sharma 2007; Koli 2012; Koli et al. 2013b), and West Bengal, Bihar, & Goa
(Ashraf et al.1993; Srinivasulu et al. 2004; Molur et al. 2005). In the global context, this species is
of ‘Least Concern’ (Walston et al. 2016). However, a few studies on P. philippensis indicate its decreasing status in India
due to hunting (Nandini 2000a,b), anthropogenic disturbances, habitat
destruction, and agricultural encroachment (Kumara
& Singh 2004, 2006). Here we report first photographic record of Indian
Giant Flying Squirrel in Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary,
Odisha, eastern India.
The Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary extends over an area of 304.03
km2 from 21.49710N to 84.29120E; (Figure 1),
is situated in Sambalpur District of Odisha State. The mean temperatures of
winter range 5–20 ˚C and in summers range from 30–45 ˚C. There are three
distinct seasons, i.e., summer (March–June), monsoon (July–October), and winter
(November–February). The rainfall varies 1,000–1,800 mm. Grazing livestock and
collection of forest products are the major activities of the people in the
sanctuary. The sanctuary is dominated by northern tropical dry deciduous
forests, dry peninsular Sal forests, and northern dry mixed deciduous forests
(Champion & Seth 1968). The dominant trees of the sanctuary include Terminalia
tomentosa, Anogeissus latifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium,
Diospyros melanoxylon, Adina cordifolia,
Terminalia chebula, T. bellirica,
Lagerstroemia parviflora, Buchanania
lanzan, Lannea coromandelica, and Dalbergia
latifolia (Kumar 2018). The common climbers in
these forests are Bauhinia vahlii and Smilax
species, while Combretum decandrum occurs
in valleys and ravines (Kumar 2018).
In addition to IGFS,
important mammals found in the sanctuary are Elephant Elephas maximus,
Gaur Bos gaurus, Sambar Rusa
unicolor, Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak, Wild Boar Sus
scrofa, Four-horned Antelope Tertracerus
quadricornis, Leopard Panthera
pardus, Rusty-spotted Cat Prionailurus
rubiginosus, Jungle Cat Felis
chaus, Indian Grey Wolf Canis
lupus, Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena, Golden
Jackal Canis aureus, Indian Fox Vulpes
bengalensis, Sloth Bear Melursus
ursinus, Indian Giant Squirrel Ratufa indica,
Hanuman Langur Semnopithecus entellus (Palei et al. 2022).
On 20 October 2021,
while traveling in a vehicle at 1800 h from Kutab
forest road to Kutab village, we saw an animal with
coffee-brown to gray grizzled with white and ears having reddish-brown margins.
The tail was brown grey with the tips being darker and the animal was climbing
on Sal tree (21.490027ºN 84.474555º E) (Figure 1). When we reached near the
tree, the animal had almost climbed the top canopy of the tree, and jumped from
the top branch and opened its patagium and glided in the air. The animal
sighted was an IGFS. The squirrel glided almost 20 m in the air, and landed on
another Sal tree and started climbing towards the top canopy of the tree.
During this, we could successfully photograph the squirrel (Image 1). In
frequent intervals the squirrel glided from the Sal tree to the Mahua tree. We
also recorded and photographed the squirrel feeding on the seeds of Tamarindus indica
at 21.467888º N 084.304638º E, which is close to the forest rest house near Badrama Wildlife Range (Image 2).
There has been no
record of IGFS from not just the Badrama Wildlife
Sanctuary but from the entire Odisha State. This is the first photographic
evidence of the species from the sanctuary.
For
figure & images - - click here for full PDF
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