The Living Forest (211) : Siberian Chipmunk

The Living Forest (211) : Siberian Chipmunk

The Siberian Chipmunk is the only chipmunk found outside North America and occurs from central Russia to China, Korea and northern Japan.
This animal (relatively small compared to the well known red squirrel) lives mostly on the ground, but it's also a good climber and can be found until the highest treetops.

All over the world, this cute little creature is often kept in a cage as a pet by so called 'animal lovers'.
However after some time, those pet owners often release it into a wild habitat for one reason or another.

So happened in the seventies of last century in the ‘Zoniënwoud’, a large forest in Belgium, when a few Siberian Chipmunks were released from captivity (by whom no one knows).
Since then this lovely animal is part of the permanent fauna of that forest, with nowadays a population size of probably several thousand specimens.
Fortunately, the Siberian Chipmunk has no negative influence on the red squirrel population.


Dutch name : Siberische grondeekhoorn (ook Boeroendoek, Koreaanse grondeekhoorn of Aziatische gestreepte grondeekhoorn genoemd)
German name : Burunduk (auch Gestreiftes Backenhörnchen, Sibirisches Streifenhörnchen oder Asiatisches Streifenhörnchen genannt)
Latin name : Eutamias sibiricus

Location : Zoniënwoud at La Hulpe, Belgium.

***

A big thanks to Sigrid E for the nomination of this picture.

***

It’s already the third time this year, that I spotted an exotic animal in Belgian natural biotopes.
Here are the 2 other cases :