Context: A recent study by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has projected that numbers of the Malayan Giant Squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) could decline in India by 2050.

Issue

• The Squirrel’s population could decline by 90% in India by 2050, if urgent steps are not taken.
• The population of the species in India declined by 30% over the last two decades.

Key Points

• India is home to three types of giant squirrels and 18 types of flying squirrels.
• Flying squirrels are strictly nocturnal (come out only at night) and giant squirrels are diurnal (come out only at day).

The three giant squirrel species are

• Malayan Giant Squirrel in Northeast
• Indian Giant Squirrel and Grizzled Giant Squirrel found in peninsular India.

Malayan Giant Squirrel

• It is one of the world’s largest squirrel species.
• It has a dark upper body, pale under parts, and a long, bushy tail.

Habitat

• It is native to the forests of Northeast India.

It is currently found in

• India: In parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.
• Asia: Southern China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, the Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java.
• It is found mostly in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, from plains to hills at elevations of 50 m to 1,500 m above sea level.

In India,

• Some 20% of the population of the species is found at elevations between 1,500 m and 2,700 m; the rest live in the plains and up to 1,500 m.
• Of the roughly 1.84 lakh sq. km of the squirrel’s range in Asia, about 8.5 per cent (15,635 sq. km) is in India. 

Protection

• IUCN status: Near Threatened
• Protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Threats

• Deforestation
• Fragmentation of forests
• Crop cultivation
• Over-harvesting of food
• Illegal trade in wildlife
• Hunting for consumption.
• Slash-and-burn jhum cultivation in many areas of the Northeast.

Significance
The health of the species is critical because it indicates health of

• Forests it inhabits.
• Vegetation and plants on which it feeds.
• Other symbiotic species that inhabit the region.

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

• ZSI was launched in 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It is India’s apex organization on animal taxonomy. 
• It is declared as a designated repository for the National Zoological Collection as per Section 39 of the National Biodiversity Act, 2002.
• Aim: To promote survey, exploration, and research to enhance the knowledge regarding the flora and fauna.

Objectives

• To make a status survey of the threatened and endemic species.
• Preparation of Red Data Book, Fauna of India, and Fauna of States.

Functions

• ZSI publishes the Red Data Book on Indian Animals.
• It was first published in 1983 and is similar to the Red Data Book published by IUCN.