Wildlife in India

Nation Biodiversity Awards

A joint initiative of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Biodiversity Authority and United Nations Development programme, India Biodiversity Awards recognise the contribution of a range of stakeholders towards the conservation of biodiversity

Mouse Deer

found in India, Sri Lanka and perhaps Nepal All species in the family lack horns, but both genders have elongated canine teeth. It is basically a forest species, being found commonly in all forest types within the dry zone, and also in coconut plantations and home garden

Red Panda

found in Nepal, Assam, Sikkim and Bhutan states of India. Red pandas are one of the few animals whose diet is composed almost entirely on bamboo.

Giant squirrel

found in Sri Lanka and Western Ghats

Himalayan Ibex

goat northeastern Afghanistan, China and North India In India, they are found in Jammu and Kashmir - Kishtwar and Hemis National Parks.

Himalayan Tahr

goat plans to extend the Great Himalayan National Park's range and establish the Srikhand National Park as a reserve for tahr.

four-horned antelope or Chousingha

is a species of small antelope found in open forest in India and Nepal. Their range extends south of the Gangetic plains down to the state of Tamil Nadu, and east as far as Odisha.

Himalayan Quail bird

its reluctance to fly and its preference for dense grass habitats. Nainital

Sainj Wildlife Sanctuary

Himachal Pradesh Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) mentioned in Annual Survey

Barasingha

northern and central India, and south-western Nepal. It has already got extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh. most striking feature of a Barasingha is its antlers, with 10 to 14 times on a mature stag, though some have been known to have up to 20 Barasingha used to inhabit the basins of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, as well as central India as far as the Godavari River.

Hoolock Gibbon

only apes found in India. They are found in all seven states of northeast India, Eastern Bangladesh and South-West China

White Cheecked Macaque

sighted in Arunachal Pradesh

Tibetan Gazelle / Goa

small and slender gazelle with a compact body and long, thin limbs. Male Tibetan gazelles have slender, ridged horns that are relatively straight with just a slight arch.

Pygmy Hog

smallest of all the pig family currently found only in Indian state of Assam. The Pygmy Hog Research and Breeding Centre is located in Basistha, Assam, which along with Assam State Zoo is endeavouring captive breeding of this hog.

Odd Toed animals

the weight of the body is borne by the third toe only. Common example of Horse

Forest Owlet bird

thinly distributed in South Madhya Pradesh, in north-west Maharashtra and north-central Maharashtra

Gee's Golden Langur

western Assam and the Black Mountains of Bhutan.

Desert Lynx / Caracal

wild cat widely distributed across Africa, Central Asia and southwest Asia into India. Caracals can survive without drinking for a long period—the water demand is satisfied with the body fluids of prey. They have been used in India for the purpose of hunting and blood sports.

Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary

Andhra Pradesh Godavari estuary. dwindling mud ponds. 2nd largest mangrove stretch after Sundarbans

Bovidae

Antelopes or Gazelle, cattle, sheep, water buffalo, and bison Antelope is permanently horned. Gazelles, Blackbucks, Hangul, Chikkara, Nilgai, Tibetan Antelope (Chiru)

Pakhui/Pakke Tiger Reserve

Arunachal Pradesh The Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme was awarded the prize under the category, "conservation of threatened species" Under this programme, urban citizens contribute money to protect hornbill nests around Pakke Tiger Reserve.

Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

Arunachal Pradesh clouded leopard

Black Buck

Central - Western India Southern India (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu). In Andhra Pradesh, it is the state animal. The horns of the blackbuck are ringed with one to four spiral turns and the female is usually hornless. The Bishnoi community of Rajasthan is known worldwide for their conservation efforts to Blackbuck and Chinkara

Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve

Himachal Pradesh includes Pin Valley NP, Chandratal WLS, Sarchu WLS, Kibber WLS. Recently included by MoEF but not recognised by MAB program

Cervidae

Deer male deer (and female reindeer) grow and shed new antlers each year All kinds of deers including pudú and chital and except musk deer and mouse deer.

Big Cats Found in India

Gir Lion, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Snow leopard Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa ) is not a big cat but is considered to be an evolutionary link between small and big cats.

Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary

Gujrat fit for Cheetah Re introduction

Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary

Gujrat more trees to be planted for Sloth Bears

Great Himalayan

Himachal Pradesh

Even-toed ungulates

In the even-toed animals, the weight of the body of the animal is borne by 3rd and 4th toe of the forefeet. Most of the four-footed animals belong to this order. Common examples are cows, goats, sheets, Buffaloes, Pigs, Camels, deers, antelopes etc.

Spoon Billed Sandpiper

India is home to some of the last existing wintering grounds of this species

Deccan Plateau

India's largest biogeographic region making 42 per cent of the total geographical area. It's a semi-arid region that falls in the rain shadow area of the Western Ghats.

Dachigam National Park

Jammu Kashmir Hangul may go extinct

Lawalong Wildlife Sanctuaries

Jharkhand appears from NE but is from JH

Kudermukh National Park

Karnatak home to lion tailed macaque, malabar civet

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Kerala 101 species of spiders recently discovered

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary

Kerala Project Elephant and Banasura Sagar Dam on Kabini river

Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary

Kerala Salim Ali described it as the richest bird habitat on peninsular India

Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve

Kerala and Tamil Nadu Latest one to be included in MAB program Includes Shendurney WLS, Peppara WLS, Neyyar WLS and Kalakkad Mundanthurai TR

Turtles

Loggerhead, Hawksbill and Leatherback are common names of the Turtles found in India. Turtles are placed in reptiles.

Panna Biosphere Reserve

Madhya Pradesh Ken Betwa link project

Blue Mormom Butterfly

Mahrashtra's state butterfly

Nokrek Biosphere Reserve

Meghalaya Indian Wild Orange endangered here

Doyang Lake

Nagaland Amur Falcons Small raptor IUCN - Least Concerned

Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary

Tamil Nadu Conservation of greater Flamingo

Musk Deer

The male musk deer does not possess antlers, but instead has two prominent, tusk-like canine teeth The species of musk deer found in India is Moschus leucogaster, commonly known as White-bellied musk deer

Siberian Crane

They are known to winter at Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan However the last documented sighting of the bird was in 2002

Chinkara or Indian Gazelle

This is the smallest Asiatic antelope. They can go without water for long periods and can even get sufficient fluids from plants and dew drops

Protection of Chiru

To enhance protection of Chiru, its prime habitats have been declared as Wildlife Sanctuaries viz. Karakorma Wildlife Sanctuary and Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary. Jammu & Kashmir Government has its own wildlife Protection act of 1978. Chiru is in list I of that act and it is also protected by the Indian wildlife act. Thus it one of the few species which are protected by the two acts.

Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary

Tripura clouded leopard

Govind pashu Vihar

Uttarakhand for Snow Leopard project

Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary

Uttarakhand for himalayan musk deer, EN

Biogeographic Regions of India

With only 2.4 per cent of the total land area of the world, the known biological diversity of India contributes 8 per cent to the known global biological diversity India has been divided into 10 biogeographic zones

Fauna of Eastern Himalaya

a 100-million year-old gecko, the oldest fossil gecko species known to science, was discovered in an amber mine in the Hukawng Valley in the northern Myanmar.

Trans-Himalayan Region

biggest populations of wild sheep and goat in the world and other rare fauna that includes Snow Leopard and the migratory Blacknecked Crane (Grus nigricollis).

Irrawady river dolphins

can survive in both fresh and marine waters. found in Myanmar, Indonesia and the Mekong river delta in south-east Asia. Some of the Irrawady River Dolphins are also found in Bangladesh and India's Chilka Lake in Odisha.

Flora of Eastern Himalaya

centre of origin and diversification of five palms of commercial importance coconut arecanut palmyra palm sugar palm wild date palm

Sangai

endangered brow-antlered deer found in its natural habitat only at Keibul Lamjao National Park, Loktak Lake, Manipur. It is the state animal of Manipur

Jerdon's Courser bird

endemic to Andhra Pradesh. the area of rediscovery was subsequently declared as the Sri Lankamaleswara Wildlife Sanctuary.

Chiru

endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, this antelope is found mainly in Chinese regions although some individuals migrate to Ladakh in India Chiru is well known for possessing the finest and warmest wool(Shahtoosh) Shahtoosh stands for 'king of wools' in Persian Until 2002, shahtoosh shawls were legally produced in the states of Jammu and Kashmir in India but a vital ban on manufacture has now been introduced

White-bellied Heron bird

extremely rare bird found in five or six sites in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, one or two sites in Bhutan, and a few in Myanmar.