Cloud Rats Habitat and Conservation Philippines

Cloud rats are gentle and lovely rodents found only in the Philippine. Six species of cloud rats in habitat the Philippine. These are the Northern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat (Phloeomys pallidus), Southern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat (Phloeomys cumingi), giant bushy-tailed cloud rat (Crateromys schadenbergi), Ilin Island cloud rat (Crateromys paulus), Dinagat Island cloud rat (Crateromys australis) and Panay Island bushy-tailed cloud rat (Crateromys heaneyi). The Panay bushy-tailed cloud rat and the Ilin-hairy tailed cloud rat are extremely endangered while the Ilin hairy-tailed cloud rat found only in the Ilin Island south of Mindoro is on the verge of extinction. Others claim it is already extinct. The smallest is the Crateromys paulus.

Cloud Rats

The Phloeomys cumingi and Phloeomys pallidus are still off the endangered list because there is still a healthy population of these species in the wild. Unlike their parasite and disease carrying cousin rats in urban places, cloud rats are forest dwellers. They are slow moving creatures but are excellent tree climbers. Cloud rats are nocturnal creatures spending most of the day sleeping in the hole of large trees. Their diet is simple consisting mostly of tender young leaves, bananas, guavas, and young corns (Novak, 1999). Survival of cloud rats is threatened by hunting and wide scale deforestation. Cloud rats are usually hunted for their meat, which is a favorite finger food or pulutan during drinking session in rural areas. Others keep them as pets. Cloud rats are among the wildlife species protected by the Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources a member of the World Conservation Union with linkages with a number of conservation groups nationally and internationally.

Cloud Rats

Basic studies on the biology and health aspects of cloud rats should be encouraged to complement various
on-going conservation measures. In the Philippines, Maala and Arreola (1996) described the hair cuticles of the cloud rat from those of flying lemur and Philippine monkey by means of scanning electron microscopy. Based on the result of their study the three species could be differentiated from each other through the cuticular patterns of their hair. A study on the anatomy of the cloud rat is presently undertaken at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Banos.