Wildlife of India

India has the largest wild population of tigers in the world.
Adult male Indian lion at Gir Forest. Gir forest in India has the only surviving population of Asiatic lions in the world.
The most endangered Indian top predator of 2010, the dhole is on edge of extinction. Less than 2500 members of the species remain in the world.
Snow leopard at Hemis National Park in Ladakh, India. Snow leopard is an endangered species found along the Himalayas.

The wildlife in India comprises a mix of species of different types of organisms.[1] Apart from a handful of the major farm animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats, poultry, and camels, India has an amazingly wide variety of animals native to the country. It is home to Bengal tigers, Indian lions, deer, pythons, wolves, foxes, bears, crocodiles, wild dogs, monkeys, snakes, antelope species, varieties of bison and the Asian elephant. The region's rich and diverse wildlife is preserved in 120+ national parks, 18 Bio-reserves and 500+ wildlife sanctuaries across the country. India has some of the most biodiverse regions of the world and hosts three of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots – or treasure-houses – that is the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas and Indo-Burma.[2] Since India is home to a number of rare and threatened animal species, wildlife management in the country is essential to preserve these species.[3] India is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries. According to one study, India along with other 16 mega diverse countries is home to about 60-70% of the world's biodiversity.[4]

India, lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0% of flowering plant species.[5] Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.[6][7] India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[8] Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded the Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.

A female Indian elephant in Nagerhole National Park. India has the largest population of Indian elephants.

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, to which India originally belonged. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic change 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.[9] Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya.[8] As a result, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians.[5] Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species.[10] These include the Asian elephant, the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, the Indian rhinoceros, the mugger crocodile, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with over 515 wildlife sanctuaries, India now hosts 18 biosphere reserves, 9 of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; 26 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.

The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture. The common name for wilderness in India is jungle, which was adopted into the English language. The word has been also made famous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as the Panchatantra.

Fauna

Main article: Fauna of India
The Hanuman langur with newborn. At least seven species of grey langurs are found in India out of which five are endemic.
The endangered black buck at the Guindy National Park within the Chennai metropolis
One of the world's rarest monkeys, Gee's golden langur typifies the precarious survival of much of India's mega fauna.
The Indian rhinoceros in the Kaziranga National Park. Kaziranga in Assam, India is home to two-thirds of the one-horned rhinoceros population.

India is home to several well-known large mammals, including the Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard, sloth bear and Indian rhinoceros. Some other well-known large Indian mammals are: ungulates such as the rare wild Asian water buffalo, common domestic Asian water buffalo, gail, gaur, and several species of deer and antelope. Some members of the dog family, such as the Indian wolf, Bengal fox and golden jackal, and the dhole or wild dogs are also widely distributed. However, the dhole, also known as the whistling hunter, is the most endangered top Indian carnivore, and the Himalayan wolf is now a critically endangered species endemic to India. It is also home to the striped hyena, macaques, langur and mongoose species.

Conservation

The Indian leopard is found across the Indian subcontinent. Poaching for its skin is a serious threat to the leopard.

The need for conservation of wildlife in India is often questioned because of the apparently incorrect priority in the face of direct poverty of the people. However, Article 48 of the Constitution of India specifies that, "The state shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country" and Article 51-A states that "it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures."[11]

Large and charismatic mammals are important for wildlife tourism in India, and several national parks and wildlife sanctuaries cater to these needs. Project Tiger, started in 1972, is a major effort to conserve the tiger and its habitats.[12] At the turn of the 20th century, one estimate of the tiger population in India placed the figure at 40,000, yet an Indian tiger census conducted in 2008 revealed the existence of only 1,411 tigers. 2010 tiger census revealed that there are 1700 tigers left in India.[13] As per the latest tiger census (2015), there are around 2226 tigers in India. By far, there is an overall 30% increase in tiger population. [14] Various pressures in the later part of the 20th century led to the progressive decline of wilderness resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) General Assembly meeting in Delhi in 1969, serious concern was voiced about the threat to several species of wildlife and the shrinkage of wilderness in India. In 1970, a national ban on tiger hunting was imposed, and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act came into force. The framework was then set up to formulate a project for tiger conservation with an ecological approach. However, there is not much optimism about this framework's ability to save the peacock, which is the national bird of India. George Schaller wrote about tiger conservation:[15]

Image gallery

Recent extinctions

Illustration of a Himalayan quail from A. O. Hume's work. Last seen in 1876

The exploitation of land and forest resources by humans along with hunting and trapping for food and sport has led to the extinction of many species in India in recent times. These species include mammals such as the Indian/Asiatic cheetah, wild zebu, Indian Javan rhinoceros, and Northern Sumatran rhinoceros.[16] While some of these large mammal species are confirmed extinct, there have been many smaller animal and plant species whose status is harder to determine. Many species have not been seen since their description.

Some species of birds have gone extinct in recent times, including the pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) and the Himalayan quail (Ophrysia superciliosa). A species of warbler, Acrocephalus orinus, known earlier from a single specimen collected by Allan Octavian Hume from near Rampur in Himachal Pradesh, was rediscovered after 139 years in Thailand.[17][18]

Fungi of India

The diversity of fungi[19] and their natural beauty occupy a prime place in the biological world and India has been a cradle for such organisms. Only a fraction of the total fungal wealth of India has been subjected to scientific scrutiny and mycologists have to unravel this unexplored and hidden wealth. One-third of fungal diversity of the globe exists in India. The country has an array of 10 diverse biomes including Trans-Himalayan zone, Himalaya, Desert, Semi-Arid zone, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plain, North-Eastern India, Coasts and Islands where varied dominating regimes manifest. This enables the survival of manifold fungal flora in these regions which include hot spot areas like the Himalayan ranges, Western Ghats, hill stations, mangroves, sea coasts, fresh water bodies etc. Many fungi have been recorded from these regions and from the country in general comprising thermophiles, psychrophiles, mesophiles, aquatic forms, marine forms, plant and animal pathogens, edible fungi and beneficial fungi and so on. The number of fungi recorded in India exceeds 27,000 species, the largest biotic community after insects. The true fungi belong to the Kingdom[20] Fungi which has four phyla, 103 orders, 484 families and 4979 genera. About 205 new genera have been described from India, of which 32% were discovered by C. V. Subramanian of the University of Madras.[21][22] These features indicate a ten-fold increase in the last 80 years.

Flora of India

Main article: Flora of India
The Valley of Flowers National Park in Uttarakhand, India.

There are about 17500 taxa of flowering plants from India. The Indian Forest Act, 1927 helped to improve protection of the natural habitat.

National symbols of India (animals)

Biosphere reserves

The Sundarbans in Bengal, India

The Indian government has established eighteen biosphere reserves of India which protect larger areas of natural habitat and often include one or more national parks and/or preserves, along buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities who inhabit these regions, and their ways of life.

Valley of flowers National Park, Uttrakhand, India is part of the Nanda Devi Bio-reserve.

The bio-reserves in India are:

Gulf of Mannar from Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, India.

Nine of the eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) list.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of World Geography By Peter Haggett
  2. ↑ South India By Sarina Singh, Stuart Butler, Virginia Jealous, Amy Karafin, Simon Richmond, Rafael Wlodarski
  3. ↑ Biodiversity and its conservation in India By Sharad Singh Negi
  4. ↑ Explorations in Applied Geography By Dutt Misra & Chatterjee (eds.) , L R Singh, Ashok K Dutt, H N Misra, Meera Chatterjee
  5. 1 2 Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre (IGCMC), New Delhi and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK. 2001. Biodiversity profile for India.
  6. ↑ Botanical Survey of India. 1983. Flora and Vegetation of India — An Outline. Botanical Survey of India, Howrah. 24 pp.
  7. ↑ Valmik Thapar, Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent, 1997.
  8. 1 2 Tritsch, M.E. 2001. Wildlife of India Harper Collins, London. 192 pages. ISBN 0-00-711062-6
  9. ↑ K. Praveen Karanth. (2006). Out-of-India Gondwanan origin of some tropical Asian biota
  10. ↑ Groombridge, B. (ed). 1993. The 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. lvi + 286 pp.
  11. ↑ Krausman, PR & AT Johnson (1990) Conservation and wildlife education in India. Wild. Soc. Bull. 18:342-347
  12. ↑ Project Tiger Accessed February 2007
  13. ↑ NDTV
  14. ↑ corbett-national-park.com
  15. ↑ Shashwat, D.C. (27 June 2007) "The Last Roar?", Dataquest Magazine, India.
  16. ↑ Vivek Menon (2003). A field guide to Indian mammals. Dorling Kindersley, Delhi. ISBN 0-14-302998-3.
  17. ↑ Threatened birds of Asia Accessed October 2006
  18. ↑ The Nation, 6 March 2007
  19. ↑ Fungi or Fungus Wikipedia Fungus
  20. ↑ Classification of Organisms Wikipedia Kingdom (biology)
  21. ↑ Fungal biodiversity: Distribution, conservation and prospecting of fungi from India
  22. ↑ Fungi of India 1989-2001 ;
  23. ↑ Dolphin becomes India’s national aquatic animal
  24. ↑ UNESCO, Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list

and prospecting of fungi from India. By: C. Manoharachary, K. Sridhar, Reena Singh, Alok Adholeya, T. S. Suryanarayanan, Seema Rawat and B. N. Johri. CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 89, NO. 1, 10 JULY 2005. PDF

External links

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