cookwithjoy482@gmail.com
Wildlife of India and Its Protection from Humans
India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rainforest in the south, the sand of the best to the mercy of the man groups of the East. India’s forests contain about 500 species of mammals, and about more than 1300 species. India has about 2,714 endemic lichen species. In 2020, the First lichen Park in India was developed by the Uttarakhand Forest Department in Munsiyari of Pithoragarh District of the state.
Wildlife basically has many definitions. The most basic definition includes all the flora and fauna in the wild regions of a country. In scientific terms, wildlife refers to the animals in particular that are moving around freely and without any restriction in the wild jungle that has hardly any imposition created by human interference.
The Wildlife of India is so diverse and beautiful that it is hard to demarcate it into specific zones, but for the convenience of study, we can classify Indian wildlife into 3 sub-regions.
* Himalayan sub-regions
* Tropical rainforest sub-region
* Indian peninsula sub-regions
The Himalayan Region:
It covers an area of over 5,30,000 sq km. About 16% of the total geographical area of the country. Himalayan sub-region is spread across 13 Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. This region contains various flora and fauna. Physiographically, the Himalayas start from the foothills of the south (Shivaliks) and extend up to the Tibetan plateau in the north. Three major geographical parts of the Himalayas are the Greater Himalaya or Inner Himalaya (Himadri), the Middle Himalaya (Himachal), and the Outer Himalaya (Shivalik).
Some of the highest mountains on Earth are found in this region. The Himalayas play a crucial role in supplying water to the continent. The Himalayas save our country from the cold and dry winds of Central Asia. It also prevents the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean from crossing over to Northern countries. Himalayan regions are home to many medicinal plants. The Himalayan subregion holds a record of sheltering 163 endangered species, including the wild water buffalo, one-horned Rhino, and as many as 10,000 plant species, of which 3,160 are endemic.
Tropical Rainforest Sub-Region:
Tropical rainforests are the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems in the world. Tropical rainforest sub-regions are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, and West Bengal, which fringe the Arabian Sea, the coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the North East.
These areas receive heavy rainfall. The vegetation includes evergreen forests. The forest is a three-storeyed tall and magnetic tree-top canopy. A thick, dense, and rich environment is capable of providing food and shelter to most animals and birds. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, coming under the equatorial belt, are diverse and unique. Most parts of the Island are free from human settlements. It is one of the most species-rich forests in the world. The biodiversity is so high that it contributes to half of our country’s biodiversity.
In the tropical rainforest region, the mangrove forest of Sundarban with the very special Sundari trees and tigers is world-famous. This fertile delta is formed by the rivers the Ganga and Brahmaputra. Sundarbans are home to the highest number of tigers.
The Indian tropical rainforest provides shelter to elephants, gaur, and other large animals. The vegetation and animals of the forests show affinity with the high-altitude forests of Assam.
Indian Peninsula Sub Regions:
Indian peninsular subregion includes the area from the base of the Himalayas to Kanyakumari but excludes the Malabar coast. This is the true home of Indian fauna. It consists of the hot deserts of Thar in Rajasthan, separated by the Aravalli ranges and the Indus valley as West and East Thar. They are connected by the salt flats of the Little Rann of Kutch. The tropical deciduous woodlands covering peninsular India extend to the drainage basin of the Ganga River system. The fauna found in this area is an Asiatic wild ass, blackbuck, desert cat, caracal, desert fox, snakes, lizards, and tortoise. In this region, animals have developed adaptations to face the scarcity of water and the severity of high temperatures.
Wildlife of India plays an important role in balancing our environmental system as well as providing stability to different processes of nature. It maintains the food chain. If we hunt wild animals like carnivores, then there is an increase in the number of herbivorous animals. It, in turn, affects our agricultural lands and destroys the crops; in this way, it affects our food. So it is a predictor of each other to balance the ecological system.
India runs various projects like Project Elephant, Project Hangul, the Indian crocodile conservation project, and many more. Dolphins are also of significance as they have been declared the national aquatic animal. Dolphins play a crucial role in balancing the ecosystem of the river and ocean. It eats mainly fish and squid.
In order to protect the wildlife of India, the government has launched legislation like the Coastal Regulation Zone, the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 was enacted by the Government of India for the protection of plant and animal species. Further federal protection was promulgated in the 1980s.
Wildlife, nature’s gift to mankind, is continuously helping in maintaining the ecological balance of the earth. Our wildlife is our heritage. When we take care of our wildlife, we safeguard our heritage for future generations. So, we can help us conserve wild iconic species by ensuring wildlife is valued by people and able to thrive in their natural habitat. Wildlife also performs its duty in reducing global warming on this earth.
I feel like I am nothing without wildlife.
They are the stars.
I feel awkward without them.
Wildlife is a part of this planet, and we must save it.
