Amazing Species: Long-tailed Climbing Mouse

The Long-tailed Climbing Mouse, Vandeleuria nilagirica, is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This small, arboreal murid is endemic to the northern Western Ghats of India, where it is found in evergreen montane forests and relatively undisturbed coffee, banana and cardamom plantations, at elevations of between 900 and 2,100 metres.

The Long-tailed Climbing Mouse is primarily threatened by a decline in the extent of its forest habitat and the replacement of native canopy trees with exotic species. Surviving in isolated forest patches, the distribution of this species is highly fragmented, with the only known sizeable population residing at Haleri in Coorg on the Western Ghats.

There are no known conservation measures in place for the Long-tailed Climbing Mouse. However, with so little known about the status of this species in the wild, further studies into its ecology, distribution and population will be required if its future is to be secured.

Source: IUCN RedList of Threatened Species