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, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AN UNREPORTED POPULATION OF THE GRIZZLED GIANT SQUIRRELRATUFA MACROURA' 3. KumaranSathasivam2 V.Santharam3 K.V.Sudhakar4andT.BadriNarayanan5 , , ‘AcceptedApril 25, 2008 229Jadamuni KoilStreet, Madurai 62500),TamilNadu, India. Email: [email protected] 'Institute of Bird Studies & Natural History, Rishi Valley Education Centre, Rishi Valley RO. 517 352, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected] J10 South Leith Castle Street, Santhome, Chennai 600 028, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: [email protected] 5262,2ndMain Road,Gomathipuram, Madurai 600020,Tamil Nadu. India.Email: [email protected] TheSirumalaiHillsareacompactrangeofhillsinTamil The GrizzledGiant Squirrel is anendangered species Nadu, southern India. They are located in Dindigul district, and has been reported from only a few locations in India: withthecentreatroughly 10° 13'N,78° 15'E.TheSirumalais theSrivilliputturGrizzledGiantSquirrel Sanctuary(Joshua extend over an area approximately 20 km long and 13 km and Johnsingh 1994), Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary wide. They are outliers of the Western Ghats, close to the (Ramachandran 1989),KudirayarinthePalniHills(Davidar Palni Hills. The highest peaks in the Sirumalais are nearly 1989), Muttatti in Karnataka (Karthikeyan etal. 1992) and 1,400 m high. A plateau of 1,000 m height is a significant SathanurDam(M. Krishnanpers.comm, toK.V.Sudhakar). feature of this hill range. The slopes of the hills are fairly Its total population in India has been estimated at steep.The plateau iscultivatedandhas scanty anddegraded just a few hundred individuals (Joshua and Johnsingh natural forest, whereas the slopes are well forested. 1994). While surveying the Sirumalais for birds in 2006 and TheSirumalai Hillsmustnowbe includedintheselect 2007,wefoundtheGrizzledGiantSquirrelRatufamacroura list oflocations where the Grizzled Giant Squirrel is found. at various locations (Table 1). Our records of five or six individuals from well-separated At every instance we saw the squirrels, except at parts of these hills suggest that a significant population of Velampanne,where weonlyheardtheircalls. Kolinjipatti isat thisendangeredmammalexistshere. thefoothills,andalltheotherlocationsareontheplateau.From Our bird survey was supported by a grant from the our discussions with the staff of Kandighe Estate, we learnt Oriental BirdClub.WearegratefultoMr. V. NarayanSwami thattheanimalsareregularly seen intheirestateand thateven and the staff of Khandighe Estate for the hospitality and threetofouranimalshavebeen seen togetherat times. facilitiesoffered. Table 1: DetailsofrecordsoftheGrizzledGiantSquirrel RatufamacrouraintheSirumalais Date Location Numberofindividuals Habitat August2006 KandigheEstate 1 Riverine April2007 HorticulturalStation 1 Riverine habitatwith manyoldandtalltreesaswellas introducedtreessuchasEucalyptus, Pineand Grevilleasp. July2007 Velampanne 1 Disturbedforestandsilkcotton plantations September2007 Kolinjipatti 2, possibly3 Riverineforest(includingtall Terminaliaarjuna Albizzialebbek,mango,andtamarindtrees); deciduousforest; fruitandcoconutplantations REFERENCES Davidar, P. (1989): Grizzled Giant Squirrel Ratufa macroura - Karthikeyan,S„J.N.Prasad&B.Arun(1992):GrizzledGiantSquirrel DistributioninKudirayar.J. BombayNat.Hist.Soc.86(3):437. RatufamacrouraThomasandWroughtonatCauveryValleyin Joshua.J. &A.J.T.Johnsingh(1994):Impactofbioticdisturbanceson Karnataka. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 89(3): 360-361. the habitat and population of the endangered Grizzled Giant Ramachandran, K.K. (1989): Endangered Grizzled Giant Squirrel SquirrelRatufamacrourainsouthIndia.Biol.Conserv.68:29-34. habitat.J. BombayNat. Hist.Soc. 86(1): 94-95. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 105 (2), May-Aug 2008 213