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Sri Lankan Giant Squirrel

Ratufa macroura

Description:

Ratufa macroura is a species of giant tree squirrels in the subfamily Ratufinae. Found in the highlands of the Central and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka, and in patches of riparian forest along the Kaveri River and in the hill forests of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala states of southern India. The genus was assessed in 2018 by the IUCN redlist of threatened species as Near Threatened(NT) due to habitat loss and hunting. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/1938...

Habitat:

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is one of the last primary rainforests in Sri Lanka and is a biodiversity hotspot, it was established as a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978, and a World Heritage site in 1988 by UNESCO. More than 60% of the trees are endemic, it's also home to 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of animals and 95% of the endemic birds of the country. Surrounded in dense fog, the dangerous, dark and mysterious Sinharaja forest is steeped in deep legend and mystery. The word Sinharaja means lion- (සිංහ/சிங்கம் sinha) king or kingdom (රාජ/ராஜா raja), and a popular folk legend has it that a legendary lion lived in this protected forest. 60% of the forest is contained within the border of Rathnapura District, 20% in the Galle District, and 20% in Kaluthara District. The forest is likely to have formed during the Jurassic era and spans over an area of 360 km², it is the most dense rainforest in Asia with 240,000 plants per hectare. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinharaja_...

Notes:

Taken inside Sinharaja Forest Reserve.

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thewndrr
Spotted by
thewndrr

Diyaduwa, Southern Province, Sri Lanka

Spotted on Jan 28, 2021
Submitted on Feb 1, 2022

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