Where does the Siberian chipmunk live?
The Siberian chipmunk is native to northern Asia, from central Russia to China, Korea and Hokkaidō in northern Japan. It is the only chipmunk found outside North America. It lives in coniferous forests and stony mountain areas, but also in deciduous forests, mixed forests or urban areas. It survives temperatures from −65 °C to 30 °C. It digs burrows 2.5 m long and 1.5 m deep.
What does the Siberian chipmunk eat?
It eats mainly pine seeds and other deciduous and coniferous tree seeds, but also herb roots, insects, molluscs, birds, reptiles, grains, fruit and fungus. It caches food for winter storage, 3 to 4 kg. It typically has four white stripes and five dark stripes along the back, and is 18 to 25 cm long, a third of which is the tail.
Is the Siberian chipmunk endangered?
The IUCN lists it as Least Concern. But in Europe, imported from South Korea as a pet in the 1960s and then released by former owners, it has become invasive. Since 2016, it has been on the EU invasive alien species list: it cannot be imported, bred, transported, sold or released. It is blamed for preying on low-nesting birds in Belgium.
