Ratufa affinis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	RODENTIA	SCIURIDAE

Scientific Name:

Ratufa affinis

Species Authority:

(Raffles, 1821)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Pale Giant Squirrel, Cream-coloured Giant Squirrel
French	–	Écureuil De Raffles, Écureuil Géant Commun, Ratufe Dorée

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Near Threatened ver 3.1

Year Published:

2008

Assessor/s:

Duckworth, J.W., Meijaard, E., Giman, B. & Han, K.H.

Reviewer/s:

Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
Listed as Near Threatened because this species is probably in significant decline (but probably at a rate of less than 30% over ten years) because of widespread habitat loss and hunting through much of its range, thus making the species close to qualifying for Vulnerable under criterion A2c.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is widespread throughout its range in southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo.
Countries:	Native: Brunei Darussalam; Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatera); Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak); Singapore; Thailand
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It is quite rare in Sarawak and peninsular Thailand. This species was the most abundant of its genus found in a survey conducted by Saiful and Nordin (2004) in Peninsular Malaysia (Weng River sub-catchment), with a density of1.30 ± 0.61 individuals/km². In general, this species is found at low densities in unlogged forest in Malaysia; in Danum Valley, Sabah, Norhayati (2001) found 3.61 individuals/km², while Zainuddin et al. (1996) found 5.18 individuals/km² in Nanga Gaat, Sarawak.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

It is quite rare in Sarawak and peninsular Thailand. This species was the most abundant of its genus found in a survey conducted by Saiful and Nordin (2004) in Peninsular Malaysia (Weng River sub-catchment), with a density of1.30 ± 0.61 individuals/km². In general, this species is found at low densities in unlogged forest in Malaysia; in Danum Valley, Sabah, Norhayati (2001) found 3.61 individuals/km², while Zainuddin et al. (1996) found 5.18 individuals/km² in Nanga Gaat, Sarawak.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This is a closed canopy species that is never seen on ground, and is dependent on tall, wet evergreen forests (Giman pers. comm.). This species can tolerate plantations and secondary forest (Giman pers. comm.). This is an arboreal species (Saiful and Nordin 2004). It has been suggested that one of the reasons for low densities of this species in Malaysian tropical rain forest is competition from the great variety of other arboreal vertebrates (such as birds, and especially primates) for food, especially fruits and leaves, which are among the food items preferred by squirrels (Saiful and Nordin 2004).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

This is a closed canopy species that is never seen on ground, and is dependent on tall, wet evergreen forests (Giman pers. comm.). This species can tolerate plantations and secondary forest (Giman pers. comm.). This is an arboreal species (Saiful and Nordin 2004). It has been suggested that one of the reasons for low densities of this species in Malaysian tropical rain forest is competition from the great variety of other arboreal vertebrates (such as birds, and especially primates) for food, especially fruits and leaves, which are among the food items preferred by squirrels (Saiful and Nordin 2004).

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species is threatened by logging and hunting in forest fragments, it is probably sensitive to even selective logging (Giman pers. comm.).

Major Threat(s):

This species is threatened by logging and hunting in forest fragments, it is probably sensitive to even selective logging (Giman pers. comm.).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	This species occurs in many protected areas (Han and Giman pers comm.). It is protected in Sarawak and Malaysia (Giman and Han pers. comm.), as well as probably in Thailand (Giman pers. comm.). It also protected by CITES Appendix II (Han and Giman pers. comm.). Saiful and Nordin (2004) state the need for further comparative study on this species' abundance, density and distribution and its relationship to forest structure or habitat quality, spatially and temporally, in hill dipterocarp forest of Malaysia.

Conservation Actions:

This species occurs in many protected areas (Han and Giman pers comm.). It is protected in Sarawak and Malaysia (Giman and Han pers. comm.), as well as probably in Thailand (Giman pers. comm.). It also protected by CITES Appendix II (Han and Giman pers. comm.). Saiful and Nordin (2004) state the need for further comparative study on this species' abundance, density and distribution and its relationship to forest structure or habitat quality, spatially and temporally, in hill dipterocarp forest of Malaysia.

Citation:	Duckworth, J.W., Meijaard, E., Giman, B. & Han, K.H. 2008. Ratufa affinis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2012.
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