Philippine Panay Island Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat (Crateromys heaneyi): A Preliminary Behavioural Study of Captive Cloud Rats

Abstract

Panay Island bushy-tailed cloud rats Crateromys heaneyi are nocturnal, arboreal, probably herbivorous Philippine rodents. Apart from limited morphological data, there is very little reported information about them. The aim of this study was to gather preliminary data with a view to developing an ethogram for these taxa, based on a captive population house at ZSL London Zoo. Cloud rats are probably not social rodents and are likely to live in pairs or solitarily in the wild when not raising offspring. They are intolerant of intruders in their territory and will fight to the death when stressed. They spend the majority of their time resting, climbing and feeding. Cloud rats are fastidious in their habits; defecating and urinating away from their nest boxes and food at a particular constant site and cleaning themselves methodically after every meal. There are significant gaps in our knowledge of these mammals, which are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.