A rare record of an Indian giant flying squirrel (Petaurista philippensis) in the Upper Nilgiris, due to the individual meeting an unfortunate end after coming into contact with a barbed wire fence in Udhagamandalam, has prompted ecologists and wildlife biologists to call for specific action plans to be put in place to safeguard smaller, lesser-known species of wildlife from being affected by human infrastructure.
According to a short note published by authors Yeshwanth Kumar, K. Rishi, Saran Moorthi, M. Shahir, A. Abinesh, N. Moinudheen, and A. Samson in ‘Mammology Notes’, the carcass of the giant flying squirrel was found in April 2023, entangled in barbed wire fencing along the roadside near a private property.
