It’s Rodent Week on iWild!
This week we’re featuring the world’s endangered rodents. Today: The Southern Giant Slender-Tailed Cloud Rat, endemic to the Philippines, is a large, shy, squirrel-like creature with big feet and a furry tail. Largely nocturnal, this rat frequents the tops of forest trees and is found only on the southern half of Luzon Island and one other island. It bears only a single pup a year. Threatened by a slow reproduction rate and by heavy and unsustainable hunting—some residents claim to catch 50 of the rats a year—the species may also be endangered by extensive deforestation. ARKive and the World Wildlife Fund are urging that the largest remaining remnant of the southern Luzon rain forests near Mount Isarog be protected: The region contains 13 mammal species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, including the Southern Giant Slender-Tailed Cloud Rat, as well as the largest bat on earth, the golden-crowned flying-fox.
Loading…}