Wildlife of India
Wildlife in India
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, pigs & sheep, India has an amazingly wide variety of animals native to the country. It is home to Bengal tigers, Asiatic lions, Leopards, Pythons, Wolves, Foxes, Bears, Crocodiles, Rhinoceroses, Camels, Wilddogs, Monkeys, Snakes, Antelope species,Deer species, varieties of bison and not to mention the mighty Asian elephant. [3] According to one study, India along with 17 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.
Problems
Following are some of the issues in this landscape –
Human animal conflict, with majority being human – elephant conflict due to death of elephants by electrocution and poisoning and loss of human lives and property.
Habitat destruction: people are directly destroying habitat, include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees.
Habitat fragmentation: Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat has been cut up into fragments by roads and development. Aquatic species habitat has
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, pigs & sheep, India has an amazingly wide variety of animals native to the country. It is home to Bengal tigers, Asiatic lions, Leopards, Pythons, Wolves, Foxes, Bears, Crocodiles, Rhinoceroses, Camels, Wilddogs, Monkeys, Snakes, Antelope species,Deer species, varieties of bison and not to mention the mighty Asian elephant. [3] According to one study, India along with 17 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.
Problems
Following are some of the issues in this landscape –
Human animal conflict, with majority being human – elephant conflict due to death of elephants by electrocution and poisoning and loss of human lives and property.
Habitat destruction: people are directly destroying habitat, include filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees.
Habitat fragmentation: Much of the remaining terrestrial wildlife habitat has been cut up into fragments by roads and development. Aquatic species habitat has