CreatureData

Black giant squirrel

Ratufa bicolor (Sparrman, 1778)

NTNear Threatenedrodents

The black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) is a species in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 2 kg to 2.05 kg and live up to 19 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor)
Photo: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black giant squirrel

Weight
2 kg – 2.05 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
19 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
19.6 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forest, shrublandsrc for Habitat
Gestation
31.7 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1.65src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
2.95 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
2src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black giant squirrel live?

Not recorded

What is the black giant squirrel?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black giant squirrel or Malayan giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) is a large tree squirrel in the genus Ratufa native to the Indomalayan zootope. It is found in forests from northern Bangladesh, northeast India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, West Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and western Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Bali and nearby small islands).

From the Wikipedia article “Black giant squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_giant_squirrel&oldid=1359119800), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black giant squirrel endangered?

The black giant squirrel is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.

How is the black giant squirrel classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderRodentia
  5. familySciuridae
  6. genusRatufa
  7. SpeciesRatufa bicolor (Sparrman, 1778)

Synonyms Ratufa celaenopepla, Ratufa tennentii, Sciurus bicolor, Sciurus leschenaultia, Sciurus macruroides

Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • Malayan giant squirrelEnglish
  • Malayan giant squirrelEnglish
  • থেকেৰাখোৱাAssamese
  • LisuBangla
  • রাম কোটা বা বড় কাঠবিড়ালিBangla
  • BithaBangla
  • Boro KatbiraliBangla
  • NishiBangla
  • SekiBangla
  • ratufa uzdičkováCzech
  • Schwarzes RiesenhörnchenGerman
  • Μαύρος Γιγάντιος ΣκίουροςGreek
  • Ardilla gigante negraSpanish
  • Ardilla gigante malayaSpanish
  • mustajättioravaFinnish
  • Écureuil géant orientalFrench
  • Écureuil Géant De MalaisieFrench
  • רטופה דוגוניHebrew
  • Jelarang HitamIndonesian
  • Tupai kerawak hitamIndonesian
  • Scoiattolo gigante neroItalian
  • クロオオリスJapanese
  • 검은큰다람쥐Korean
  • လင်းသက်Burmese
  • MalaykjempeekornNorwegian Bokmål
  • Tweekleurige ReuzeneekhoornDutch
  • JelarangPolish
  • wiewióra czarnaPolish
  • Esquilo-gigante-negroPortuguese
  • Двухцветная белкаRussian
  • Двухцветная ратуфаRussian
  • พญากระรอกดำThai
  • Siyah Dev Asya SincabıTurkish
  • 樹狗Chinese
  • 巨松鼠Chinese
  • 藤狸Chinese
  • 馬來亞大松鼠Chinese
  • 黑大松鼠Chinese
  • 黑果狸Chinese
  • 黑狸Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black giant squirrel

Other species in the same genus Ratufa.

CompareBlack giant squirrel vs Indian giant squirrelBlack giant squirrel vs Grizzled giant squirrelBlack giant squirrel vs Cream-coloured giant squirrelBlack giant squirrel vs Ratufa balae

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black giant squirrel?

An adult black giant squirrel weighs 2 kg – 2.05 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black giant squirrel endangered?

The black giant squirrel is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

How long does the black giant squirrel live?

The black giant squirrel has a recorded lifespan of 19 years.

How long is the black giant squirrel pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 31.7 days.

What kind of animal is the black giant squirrel?

The black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) belongs to the family Sciuridae in the order Rodentia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-giant-squirrel

MLA

“Black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-giant-squirrel.

BibTeX
@misc{black_giant_squirrel_2026,
  title = {Black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-giant-squirrel},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}