Guwahati, June 11 -- Bharti Dharapuram

In the forests of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, there is an occasional rustling high up in the canopy. One looks up to catch glimpses of brown and chestnut through the leaves. If it is a particularly lucky day, we may see a large furry rodent launch itself into the air, extending the webbing between its legs to glide downhill, a long bushy tail following behind. This is a giant flying squirrel.

A recentstudymodelled the distribution of two giant flying squirrels from the Eastern Himalayas using reports of sightings and environmental data. It found that only a fraction of the squirrels' currently designated range harbours suitable habitat for these mammals; furthermore, this habitat is expected to d...