Namdapha flying squirrel

Namdapha flying squirrel

Why in news:

• Namdapha flying squirrel has resurfaced again in the state of Arunachal Pradesh after going missing for about 42 years.
• The Namdapha flying squirrel was last noted in 1981 based on a single individual found in the 1,985 sq. km. Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
• The major challenge in finding the Namdapha Flying Squirrel is that it looks very similar to the Red giant flying squirrel which is also distributed in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

About Namdapha Flying Squirrel:

• The Namdapha flying squirrel(Biswamoyopterus biswasi) is a nocturnal, arboreal flying squirrel which is endemic to Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India.

• In Arunachal Pradesh, it is known from a single specimen which was collected in Namdapha National Park in 1981.
• The spectacular peculiar Namdapha flying squirrel is the only species in the genus called Biswamoyopterus.

Description:

• Similar to the other flying squirrels, the most distinctive feature of Namdapha flying squirrel is the furred, muscular membrane that extends along the sides of the body, from the front limbs to the hindlegs.
• This membrane acts as a parachute when the animal leaps from a tree, and once in the air, the squirrel can steer by moving its limbs and tail by altering the tension in the same membrane.
• The crown of the Squirrel is pale grey and the patagiumis orangish and its underparts are pale white to whitish.
• The thick, soft pelage is red, grizzled with white, on the back, and white on the underparts.
• The fur which covers the small hands and feet are darker.
• The Namdapha flying squirrel’s tail is bushy and pale smokey-grey at the base, turning wine red, then reddish-brown and finally clove brown at the tip.
• There are tufts of long hair at the base of each ear

Habitat and Range:

• The Namdapha flying squirrel generally inhabits temperate broadleaf forests.
• However, it is important to be noted that one specimen was found in a lofty tree, at 350 metres above sea level.
• It occurs in a small area in the eastern Himalayas, north-east India, Arunachal Pradesh.

Conservation status:

• The Namdapha flying squirrel is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN
• It is one among the 25 “most wanted lost” species which are focus of the Global Wildlife Conservation’s “Search for Lost Species” initiative.

Threats:

• Its range of the Namdapha flying squirrel may be restricted to a single valley which make it more vulnerable.
• The Namdapha flying squirrel is currently threatened by

1. habitat loss and degradation due to the clear-felling for human settlements
2. shifting agriculture by the natives
3. the extraction of non-timber forest products, particularly the leaves of a rattan palm, Zalacca secunda, for use as a roofing material.