Woolly Flying Squirrel

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The squirrel-y haven of northern Pakistan

Having his two-year long search eventually end that easily was almost unbelievable, especially considering that the four-foot long woolly flying squirrel was meant to be long extinct. Peter, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, had spent months of research in northern Pakistan, setting up live traps (intended to catch, but not to harm, the animals) and interviewing dozens of people in an attempt to prove that this cryptic animal that hadn’t been recorded in 70 years, was still alive.

It is hardly surprising that he was not able to catch this animal, for northern Pakistan is home to three of the largest mountain ranges in the world: the Himalayas, the Karakoram, and the Hindu Kush, creating an absolute labyrinth of cliffs. These gargantuan craggy mountains hold a diverse set of humans as well as animal species – the people there speak six different languages, and snow leopards, wolves, brown bears and plenty of goats and sheep roam the cliffs (including blue sheep which, disappointingly, are not actually blue).

So, while frustrated that he wasn’t immediately successful in trapping one small mammal amongst the labyrinth of cliffs, Peter still wasn’t convinced that the woolly flying squirrel had completely glided out of existence. As he said, ‘there could be a party of 100 woolly flying squirrels dancing on a ledge right above my head and I wouldn’t be able to tell’. While his traps weren’t finding anything, he wasn’t convinced that they were using the right incentives to lure the squirrel – so little was known about the habits and lifestyle of this squirrel that they didn’t even know what tasty treat to use as bait.

Unsuccessful, his time ran out and he had to return to America. Two years later in 1994, however, he won some funding to return, this time with Chantal Dietemann, a community college math teacher from upstate New York. They tried all the different kinds of bait they could think of, chucking in nuts, berries, fruits… and still didn’t catch any woollies (although lots of baby red foxes and stone martens appreciated the free meal!).

It seemed as if, once again, he would return empty-handed. But Peter still wasn’t ready to give up, especially after finding an eagle owl roost and what looked like the mangled remains of woolly flying squirrels scattered all over the ground. In a last-ditch attempt, he and Chantal decided to go to Lye Valley, where the last recorded specimen had been found in 1924.

A ‘special potion’ and a trapped squirrel

As they entered the Valley, they encountered some police who asked to know their business. Peter told them that he was trying to find the squirrel, called ‘rock butter’ in the local language, at which point they started to chuckle. Turns out they were used to people tracking down the squirrel’s urine and faeces – to sell as an aphrodisiac.

Peter had been told many myths about the squirrel, and lumped this in with the others – the others that said that the squirrel milked goats at night and hung upside down in caves like a bat. Never for a minute imagining that people might actually search out the squirrel for these ‘medicinal potions’, he journeyed on.

Soon after, they were startled by a large, elderly man marching out of the brush and demanding to know if they were those looking for the squirrel. After seeing that he had a gun slug across his back, Peter decided it would be a good idea to answer truthfully. The apparition said that he would bring them a live squirrel for $40, and, hoping to get rid of the stranger with a gun, Peter said yes.

Six hours later, the man strolled back proffering the object of their long quest in a sack.

It turns out that this Santa Claus figure was one of these collectors that the police had told Peter about – one of those who capitalise on the belief that this particular squirrel’s faeces and urine, when boiled down and ground up, can be a boon to men. It is a funny thought that the woolly flying squirrel might never have been recorded by western science again if not for the belief in the magical aphrodisiac power of their digestive system.

Peter transferred this unexpected marvel into one of his cages for the night, recording its behaviour. It was quite calm, wandering around until four in the morning when it curled up and fell asleep (strangely choosing to sleep sitting upright with its woolly tail wrapped across its body). The next morning they let it go near the base of some cliffs where it was found.

With their new collector partner, Peter and Chantal were able to capture more and more of these squirrels, releasing each one the next day. They recorded their habits (nocturnal), sounds (‘‘qwok-qwok-qwok’’, sharp ‘‘chorp!’’ and soft ‘‘chirr’’), and faecal matter. It was through these last examinations that they learnt why it had not been drawn in by the sugary baits they had left in the traps – about 95% of its faecal matter was pine needles! This weird and wonderful squirrel, along with a handful of other species in the world, had evolved to be able to digest the waxy, poisonous plant. It also nests in caves, rather than trees as most other squirrels do – a true squirrel rebel!
Conservation momentum – from protecting a squirrel to tackling deforestation

Peter’s work didn’t end there though. During their research, he learnt that the squirrel species was in danger. There were ‘timber mafia’ deforesting the area, buying up the land and then stripping it, and a growing Pakistani population meant livestock was being grazed higher and higher up the mountains every year, destroying young trees. As well as being bad for the squirrels, this deforestation also eroded and dried out the soil, proving dangerous for people in the long-run. Peter decided he wasn’t going to just watch the squirrel actually go extinct – he was going to act.

And so in 1997 he started Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Pakistan, a branch of the American NGO that works to protect wildlife in over 60 countries. With their support, and with extensive talks and consultations with local groups, Peter, his colleagues and the local people have succeeded in slowing deforestation, and creating bylaws and legislation to protect the area’s incredible wildlife. They now work with over 65 communities, reaching 40,000 people and recruiting about 100 community rangers who guard the area. This has helped the entire area, halted erosion and soil degradation, as well as boosted wildlife populations – one of the mountain goat species populations has risen by about 50%!

Peter’s quest to find one squirrel had led to the regeneration of a landscape.

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