Driving through the Ghats of
Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary we hear a loud rattling noise with a series of
penetrative chucking call. The Malabar Giant Squirrel or popularly known as
Shekru , the state animal of Maharashtra was somewhere nearby. Bhimashankar
situated at a distance of 120 kms from Pune is one of the sanctuaries
specifically created with the intention of saving the Malabar Giant Squirrels
or Indian Giant Squirrels, endemic to the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and some
of the Central Indian Hills. Here in Pune, very often one would come across
weekend news articles on the plight of the Giant Squirrel, Habitat Loss,
deficiency of fruit bearing trees, how pilgrims have been throwing garbage in
the Eco-sensitive sacred grooves (Bhimashankar is one of the twelve Jyotirlings in India)and spoiling the
Ghats.
An Indian Giant Squirrel on the way from Jenabil to Dhurduruchampa in Similipal
When I start thinking of my
trysts with the beautiful squirrel in forests of Odisha and start making notes
, I am surprised that more often that not I have encountered this arboreal animal
virtually in most of the sanctuaries and reserve forests that I have visited
and that too with a lot of ease. That means they are thriving though vulnerable because of various reasons like habitat loss, hunting etc. One of the places where I have seen the
maximum number of the Giant Squirrels is in Similipal. On one of the mornings
of November while searching for the birds, I had almost 4 individual sightings
on the Bhanjabasa- Sarua road in the southern part of the Tiger Reserve. They
were virtually present throughout the forests and I have clicked individuals at
Jenabil, Chahala and Barhakamuda. One of the reasons that can be attributed to
their high density is the occurrence of contiguous canopies of trees with wider
girth and considerable height. Giant Squirrels have been known to build
multiple nests which is one of the protective measures against the predators
like Raptors and Snakes. They keep on changing the nest for their sleeping
purpose whereas one of the nests may be kept specifically for upbringing the
younger ones. On most of the occasions, I have noted them eating leaves, barks
and petioles whereas normal assumption that I used to carry is that fruits and
flowers are the main food items for the squirrels. A lot of time is spent in
sleeping during the afternoons whereas their activity is quite high in the
dawn and dusk. From a photographer’s point, a Giant Squirrel is relatively
easy to capture once sighted and is within the eye level ( the later being
difficult owing to their activity in higher canopies). They would sometimes
freeze their motion and would lie absolutely motionless clutched to the branches
of the trees upon any intrusion. Kuldiha has also a fair number of Squirrel’s
population and I can recall seeing numerous individuals on my way from Tenda
gate to the Kuldiha Forest Rest House.
In these parts of Odisha (roughly north of Mahanadi River) , common name
is Belra or Belara Moosa whereas towards south they are called Nepali Moosa. I
may be wrong in this assumption which is mostly based on few discussions involving the Giant Squirrels that I can recall off.
On the banks of Mahanadi in Satkosia
Near Kaliamba in Ghumsar
Kuldiha has a good population of these beauties
Near Brundaban Gate in Chahala,Similipal
On the Nalakhanja-Balidhar Road , Similipal
On the Nalakhanja-Balidhar Road , Similipal
Near Nekdanacha beat in UBK, Similipal
Ghumsar North especially forests in and around Kaliamba Rest House is full of Giant Squirrels and one has also made the nearby tree house it's home. In Lakhari, I sighted only one individual during my three days of trip to the sanctuary. Mainly it can be attributed to the area being devoid of contiguous canopies with good height. The lone individual that I noted was in a specific area that was in and around a nullah and had a thick riverine forest for quite a distance. Satkosia is an abode to this beautiful creature and sightings are quite frequent. Though lot of reports (virtually all) on Internet cite the presence of the Malabar Giant Squirrels in Debrigarh and Sunabeda sanctuaries, I am not sure of their presence in these forests. In case of Debrigarh, I have not sighted a single individual in my three trips to the sanctuary. Sunabeda being one of the similar forested areas along the Chhattisgarh border, I assume there would be none either.
Ghumsar North especially forests in and around Kaliamba Rest House is full of Giant Squirrels and one has also made the nearby tree house it's home. In Lakhari, I sighted only one individual during my three days of trip to the sanctuary. Mainly it can be attributed to the area being devoid of contiguous canopies with good height. The lone individual that I noted was in a specific area that was in and around a nullah and had a thick riverine forest for quite a distance. Satkosia is an abode to this beautiful creature and sightings are quite frequent. Though lot of reports (virtually all) on Internet cite the presence of the Malabar Giant Squirrels in Debrigarh and Sunabeda sanctuaries, I am not sure of their presence in these forests. In case of Debrigarh, I have not sighted a single individual in my three trips to the sanctuary. Sunabeda being one of the similar forested areas along the Chhattisgarh border, I assume there would be none either.
Indian Giant Squirrel Map
(credit: Google Earth)
This article on Giant Squirrels
is going to continue over next couple of years and the recordings would be
entered in the map below.I regret not specifically looking out for the
Squirrels in Kotagarh and Karlapat Sanctuaries during my earlier visits which might be having a good population. Hopefully
Squirrel Map becomes more colorful in coming days. Any input from readers on
their Giant Squirrel sightings in Odisha would be a great help in collating data (may not
be absolute scientific which I am pretty poor at…:-),
and making the Map more concrete.
In the meanwhile, the Shekrus of Bhimashankar would always keep me reminding of the Nepali Moosas of Odisha.
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References:
1) The Book of Indian Animals by S H Prater
2) Journal of Threatened Taxa, July 2011
2) Journal of Threatened Taxa, July 2011
