Wild Cambodian Striped Squirrel at Saigon Zoo, 16/03/12

Tamiops rodolphii

The wild birds, squirrels, butterflies and lizards within the grounds would have been well worth a visit on their own! This was a new species for me.

I take it that's the tiny blur in the centre of the photo?

I've never been able to get a photo of a Tamiops, they just move too darn fast!!

How many species of wild squirrel have you seen now?

Chlidonias said:

I take it that's the tiny blur in the centre of the photo?

I've never been able to get a photo of a Tamiops, they just move too darn fast!!

How many species of wild squirrel have you seen now?

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@Chlidonias, have you seen any of the huge monster Asian squirrel species in your travels? Is it true that there are some squirrel species that are the size of beagles?

I figure marmots must be the size of beagles? But then I've never seen a marmot. Or a beagle.

I've seen the black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) and the cream-coloured giant squirrel (Ratufa affinis) in the wild, and the Sri Lankan giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura) in the Singapore Zoo.

I've also seen the red giant, spotted giant and black flying squirrels (Petaurista petaurista, Petaurista elegans and Aeromys tephromelas respectively) in the wild. They are pretty impressively big as well!

I'm always a bit surprised actually that the Ratufa species aren't common in European collections. They are in almost every Asian zoo you go to, and they used to be found in several UK zoos in the past (R. bicolor I believe)

Chlidonias said:

I take it that's the tiny blur in the centre of the photo?

Click to expand...

Yup

Chlidonias said:

How many species of wild squirrel have you seen now?

Click to expand...

Had a quick tot-up and I think I'm on 11. Will double-check from the list later.