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- For the first time, researchers have sighted nests of the grizzled giant squirrel at Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee, Tamil Nadu in the Eastern Ghats. It is listed as an endangered species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
- The grizzled giant squirrel is usually known to nest in the Western Ghats in Southern India ranging from Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary in Kerala to Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Palani hills in Tamil Nadu.
- Earlier in 2014, it had been spotted in the Tiruvannamalai Forest Division in Tamil Nadu, which was the only recorded sighting from this region in the Eastern Ghats.
- The grizzled giant squirrel is endemic to the southern States of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India and Sri Lanka. Due to habitat loss and poaching, the species has been categorised as near threatened by the IUCN Red List.
- It is listed under schedule II of CITES. Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
- CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. It aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants is not detrimental to the survival of wild populations. The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need



