Wildlifeof Thailand
Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel
Sciuridae
Photo: (c) Rejoice Gassah, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Petaurista alborufus
Basic stats
Diet
Nuts, fruit, leaves, insects and insect larvae
Habitat
Forest
Range
Mainland China, with uncertain records in northern mainland Southeast Asia
The red-and-white giant flying squirrel is a very large forest squirrel with dark rufous-red, buff and white fur. Mainland animals have a pale patch on the lower back, a white head, orange-brown underparts and a dark or russet tail whose base may carry a pale ring. The exact pattern varies among mainland forms (Wikipedia, general species account). It is Nationally Least Concern (Thailand Red Data 2025).
It sleeps by day in a tree hollow and emerges at night to forage in the canopy. Nuts and fruit form the main diet, supplemented by leaves, insects and insect larvae. It moves between trees on a skin membrane stretched between the limbs, steering with its flattened tail. Confirmed distribution is centred on mainland China; reports from Myanmar and northern Thailand remain taxonomically uncertain (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel eat?
- Nuts, fruit, leaves, insects and insect larvae
- What habitat does the Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel live in?
- Forest
- Where is the Red-and-white Giant Flying Squirrel found?
- Mainland China, with uncertain records in northern mainland Southeast Asia