Prevost's squirrel

Prevost's squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii), also called the Asian tri-coloured squirrel, is a medium-sized tree squirrel of the forests of Southeast Asia. It occurs in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, on the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and many smaller islands nearby, and the northern edge of its range lies in southern Thailand. It lives in primary and logged forest, nesting in tree hollows or in nests of leaves and twigs, and it also visits plantations and gardens. A typical animal is black above with chestnut or reddish-orange underparts and a pale stripe between the two, and many of its numerous subspecies have a shoulder patch, but colour varies widely across the range. Adults weigh roughly 250 to 500 grams. The squirrel eats mainly fruit, including figs, coconut, rubber seeds and oil palm fruit, and also takes buds, flowers, insects and eggs. By carrying fruit away and dropping the seeds it helps disperse the seeds of forest trees. It is active by day but mostly at dusk and dawn, breeds all year with a peak from June to August, and bears one to four young after about forty days. Habitat loss and the pet trade may reduce its numbers locally, but it remains common and widespread and is rated Least Concern by the IUCN.