Common name: Moorish squirrel
Scientific name: Atlantoxerus getulus
Status: Frequent and very abundant.
Habitat and distribution: In Spain it only lives in Fuerteventura, where it is widely distributed. It occupies all the habitats of the island, being present from altitudes at sea level to the highest areas, but it is more abundant in areas with the presence of structures that serve as shelters such as stone walls.
How to recognize it: The only squirrel in Fuerteventura. Its body and wide tail are crossed longitudinally by four black and two white bands. The hair is generally short, except for the tail, which is covered with long and dense hair and with longitudinal bands of brown and dark colours.
Curiosities: The Moorish squirrel is an invasive species that arrived on the island around 1967 and has already become majorera. It is distributed in the extreme northwest of Africa: Morocco, Great and Middle Atlas, north of the Sahara and northwest of Algeria.
