Indian giant squirrel
Ratufa indica (Erxleben, 1777)
The Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), also called the Malabar giant squirrel, is a rodent in the family Sciuridae and subfamily Ratufinae. It is a medium-sized mammal with an adult body mass of 1.06 kg, and it is a diurnal, arboreal herbivore.
Quick facts about the Indian giant squirrel
Its gestation period is 83.7 days, it has 1 young per litter, and its lifespan is given as 20 years. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 1.06 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest, woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 83.7 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the Indian giant squirrel
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the Indian giant squirrel live?
Not recorded
What is the Indian giant squirrel?
The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel.
From the Wikipedia article “Indian giant squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_giant_squirrel&oldid=1356419529), 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 Indian giant squirrel endangered?
The Indian giant squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Indian giant squirrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familySciuridae
- genusRatufa
- SpeciesRatufa indica (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms Sciurus indicus
Other names and names in other languages (23)
- Malabar giant squirrelEnglish
- Malabar giant squirrelEnglish
- ratufa obrovskáCzech
- KönigsriesenhörnchenGerman
- Indisches RiesenhörnchenGerman
- Ινδικός Γιγάντιος ΣκίουροςGreek
- ardilla malabarSpanish
- intianjättioravaFinnish
- Écureuil géant de l'IndeFrench
- רטופה הודיHebrew
- Scoiattolo gigante indianoItalian
- インドオオリスJapanese
- ಕೆಂಪು ಅಳಿಲುKannada
- शेकरूMarathi
- IndiakjempeekornNorwegian Bokmål
- ReuzenpalmeekhoornDutch
- Voor-Indische ReuzeneekhoornDutch
- wiewióra dekańskaPolish
- Esquilo-gigante-indianoPortuguese
- Индийская гигантская белкаRussian
- พญากระรอกอินเดียThai
- Hint Dev Asya SincabıTurkish
- 印度巨松鼠Chinese
Relatives of the Indian giant squirrel
Other species in the same genus Ratufa.
Black giant squirrel
Ratufa bicolor
Grizzled giant squirrel
Ratufa macroura
Cream-coloured giant squirrel
Ratufa affinis
CompareIndian giant squirrel vs Black giant squirrelIndian giant squirrel vs Grizzled giant squirrelIndian giant squirrel vs Cream-coloured giant squirrelIndian giant squirrel vs Ratufa balae
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Indian giant squirrel?
The Indian giant squirrel is a mammal, a rodent in the order Rodentia and the squirrel family Sciuridae.
How heavy is the Indian giant squirrel?
An adult Indian giant squirrel has a body mass of 1.06 kg, which places it in the medium size class.
What does the Indian giant squirrel eat?
The Indian giant squirrel is a herbivore.
Is the Indian giant squirrel endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the Indian giant squirrel live?
Its lifespan is given as 20 years.
How many young does the Indian giant squirrel have?
The Indian giant squirrel has 1 young per litter, after a gestation period of 83.7 days.
Who named the Indian giant squirrel?
Its scientific name Ratufa indica carries the authority (Erxleben, 1777).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-giant-squirrel
“Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-giant-squirrel.
@misc{indian_giant_squirrel_2026,
title = {Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-giant-squirrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}