Pallas’s Squirrel

Pallas’s Squirrel is fairly widely distributed, with the styani subspecies found in the New Territories, and the thai subspecies found on the Hong Kong Island.

According to Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (https://www.kfbg.org/eng/) , it is an introduced squirrel; the first population may have come from abandoned or escaped pets that reproduced and established in Hong Kong to become part of the local wildlife. The pelage is brown above, and red to orange below, but paler underparts for the styani subspecies; the muzzle is short; eyes are large and protruded; the tail is long and bushy, and presence of black spot at the end for the styani subspecies; strong claws are present on the fingers and toes.

Yesterday morning, when morning sunlight filtered through trees and bushes, a couple of Pallas’s Squirrel were spotted at Bowen Road, eating nuts left by people passing by.