subject: Wild Life in India [print this page] India 'wows' tourists with its rich biodiversity heritage through out the ages. People here come to see the rarest of rare species. The wildlife in India is just matchless with its 96 national parks and 500 wildlife sanctuaries. The wildlife heritage of India is a mixture of species of diverse origins which are preserved in our national parks and sanctuaries.
The parks and sanctuaries from Ladakh to the Southern Tip are home to a large number of vegetation and wildlife. Some of the important wildlife destinations in India are he Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve - Uttaranchal, Kanha National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, Ranthambhor National Park - Sawai Madhopur, Gir National Park - Sasangir (Gujarat), Kajiranga National Park in Assam, Periyar wildlife sanctuary in Kerala, Nagahole National Park in Karnataka. etc.
Let me provide a brief idea of the types wildlife in India. Indian wild life is home to near about 550 mammalian, 2000 of avian, 500 of reptiles, 30,000 insects and 800 of flowering plant species. '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.' The Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies and pipal fig tree.
Wild life tour to India is an amazing experience. Unlike African safari one can spot the animals in small herds or in solitary which are often elusive and sly. The exotic animals which you can spot while wildlife tour to India aretiger, lion, leopards, snow leopards, rhinoceros, elephant, the red panda, sloth bears, nilgai, gharial, and many species of deer, monkeys and birds. It is sure to see unforgettable sights on the wild life tour in India whether it is of wild animals, birds, reptiles, butterflies or the unique lush green forest. Infact India possesses wide variety of flora and fauna that makes it unique from rest of the world.
But 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 started the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard our endangered habitat. Further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with over 500 wildlife sanctuaries, India now hosts 15 biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; 25 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.
