Wildlife Resources in India – UPSC

• Wildlife means the animals, birds and insects that live in forests and other wild habitats.
• India’s wide regional range in physiography, climate and edaphic (soil) types gives its forests a wide range of habitats, and these support a large variety of wild creatures.
• The dwindling of forest cover has hurt this wealth. Numbers of many species have fallen sharply, some are endangered, some are close to extinction, and some have vanished, which upsets the ecological balance.

Wildlife Resources

India’s Faunal Wealth

• Older accounts credit India with 80,000 to 90,000 animal species, about 6.5% of the world’s total.
• The Zoological Survey of India’s 2025 count gives 1,05,953 species and subspecies, about 5.3% of the world’s recorded animals. It added 709 more in that year alone, most of them insects.

Mammals

• Elephant: the largest Indian mammal, spread over vast forest tracts only a few centuries ago.
  • Older regional count: Assam and West Bengal about 6,000, Central India about 2,000, and the south (Tamil Nadu, Keralam (Kerala), Karnataka) nearly 6,000.
  • Latest (2021-25, DNA-based): about 22,446, led by Karnataka (6,013) and Assam (4,159).
• One-horned rhinoceros: the second-largest mammal, once found throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain as far west as Rajasthan.
  • Older accounts counted under 1,500, in restricted locations in Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, under strict protection in Kaziranga and Manas in Assam and Jaldapara in West Bengal.
  • It has recovered strongly: Kaziranga held 2,613 in 2022. West Bengal held 392 in 2025 (Jaldapara 331, Gorumara 61). National totals are now put at over 4,000.
• Arna (wild buffalo): Assam and the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
• Gaur (Indian bison): among the largest living bovines, in the forests of Central India.
• Tiger: in the eastern Himalayan foothills and parts of the Peninsula. India holds about 70–75% of the world’s wild tigers. The numbers are given under Project Tiger below.
• Cheetah: India declared the cheetah extinct in 1952.
  • Project Cheetah began reintroducing it at Kuno National Park on 17 September 2022, from Namibia, then South Africa (2023) and Botswana (2026).
  • About 52 lived in India in September 2026, 32 of them born here, at Kuno and Gandhi Sagar.
• Asiatic lion: breeding and protection at Gir, Gujarat, brought this species back from very low numbers.
  • Count: 523 in 2015, 674 in 2020, 891 in 2025, with new groups spreading beyond Gir, as at Barda.
• Other cats:
  • The clouded leopard, a tree-dweller, lives in northern Assam, and the black panther ranges widely.
  • Desert and jungle cats live in the north-west, and the lynx in Ladakh, up to about 3,010 m.
  • Snow leopard: the first national estimate, in January 2024, gave 718, of which 477 are in Ladakh.
• Bears: these differ by height, and India has four species.
  • Brown bear: high altitudes of the north-western and central Himalaya.
  • Black bear: forested mountains, about 1,200–3,300 m, in the Himalaya and the North-East.
  • Sloth bear: not a high-altitude animal. Its strongholds are the forests of central and western India.
  • Sun bear: the North-East.
• Yak, the ox of the snows: largely in Ladakh, and tamed as a draught animal.
• Wild sheep and goats of the Himalaya:
  • Sheep: shapu or urial, bharal or blue sheep, and nayan.
  • Goat-antelopes: serow and goral.
  • Goats: markhor, ibex and Himalayan tahr.
• Deer:
  • Stag or barasingha: Assam, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
  • Muntjac or barking deer: lower Himalayan slopes and southern forests.
  • Musk deer: birch woods high in the Himalaya, hunted for its musk pod.
  • Thamin: Manipur.
• Monkeys and langurs are found in almost all forest areas. The rhesus macaque and common langur are the commonest.
• Other mammals:
  • Chinkara (Indian gazelle), blackbuck (Indian antelope), nilgai (blue bull), mouse deer (Indian chevrotain), chousingha (four-horned antelope).
  • Wild dog, fox, jackal and hyena, with mongoose, shrews, hedgehog, mole, bats, rodents and squirrels.

Reptiles

• India is rich in reptiles, though many are now endangered.
• Snakes: over 200 species or subspecies.
  • The best known are the venomous cobra, krait and Russell’s viper. Dhaman is a large non-venomous snake.
  • The king cobra, well over 5 m, is the longest venomous snake. Rock and reticulated pythons may reach 7 m.
• Crocodilians:
  • Two big species, the blunt-nosed or marsh crocodile (magar or mugger) and the gharial with its long snout, have been greatly reduced by hunting for skins.
  • The big estuarine crocodile still lives from the Ganga to the Mahanadi.
• Lizards: the chameleon and the monitor (varanus), in deserts and forests.
• Turtles: India has key breeding beaches.
  • Olive ridley: older accounts count about 3,00,000 at Odisha’s beaches. Rushikulya saw nearly 7 lakh in February 2025, and Gahirmatha is the best-known rookery.
  • Hawksbill: southern Tamil Nadu.

Birds

• India is extremely rich in birds, with about 2,000 species on the older count, about three times Europe’s number. The current checklist gives 1,358 species.
• Migrants: ducks, cranes, swallows and flycatchers come from Central Asia every winter to the wetlands of Bharatpur (Keoladeo National Park), and have also been seen near Mathura.
• Types:

• The peacock is the national bird.

• Mahananda in northern West Bengal and Rajgir (also called Pant) are wildlife sanctuaries.

Biotic Resource Regions

• William A. Rodgers and Hemendra Singh Panwar (1988) of the Wildlife Institute of India divided the country into 10 biogeographic zones for planning protected areas. Each zone is both a habitat and a resource region with problems of its own. Older accounts count 25 provinces within them.

• Livestock, poultry and fisheries also count as biotic resources. Their farming belongs with agriculture and ocean resources.

Preservation of Wildlife

Problems of Conservation

• Habitat loss and fragmentation through farming, mining, dams and roads.
• Poaching and trade, in big-cat skins and bones, rhino horn and deer musk.
• Human-wildlife conflict, as people and animals press on the same land.
• Weak management: too few trained staff, and little research within many protected areas.
• Grazing and encroachment inside and around reserves.
• These are examined at length under wildlife conservation.

Law and Institutions

• Indian Board for Wildlife (1952): it advised the Government on conservation and protection, on national parks, sanctuaries and zoos, and on public awareness.
  • It was long the apex advisory body. The 2002 amendment of the Act replaced it with the National Board for Wildlife, chaired by the Prime Minister.
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: the comprehensive law on conservation and endangered species. It bans dealing in rare and endangered animals.
  • It was adopted by the States, with Jammu and Kashmir under its own Act until the 2019 reorganisation, when the central Act took over.
  • The 2022 amendment, in force since 1 April 2023, cut the schedules from six to four and aligned them with CITES.
• National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP): the framework of strategy and programmes.
  • First: 1983.
  • Second: 2002–2016.
  • Third: 2017–2031.
• Central Zoo Authority: coordinates over 200 zoos and the exchange of animals.
• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau: set up on 6 June 2007 against organised trade.

Protected Areas

• Count in March 2026, as stated in Parliament: 1,034 protected areas, including 106 national parks, 574 wildlife sanctuaries and 309 community reserves. India also has 58 tiger reserves, 33 elephant reserves, 18 biosphere reserves and Ramsar sites, the last at 103 in October 2026.
  • Older counts: 100 national parks, 515 sanctuaries and 17 biosphere reserves.

• National park:
  • A fairly large land or water area holding representative samples of major natural regions, features, scenery, plants and animals of national or international value, with special scientific, educational and recreational interest.
  • It usually spans one or several whole ecosystems little altered by human use, and the government manages it to stay close to nature.
  • Entry is conditional, for inspiration, education, culture and recreation.
• Wildlife sanctuary:
  • Much like a national park, it is set aside for wildlife and particular species.
  • The competent authority notifies it, and killing or capturing any wild animal is prohibited unless permitted.
  • Grazing and movement of livestock are regulated, and animals allowed in must be immunised.
  • The Chief Wildlife Warden decides on entry, and on the building of roads, buildings and fences.
  • Hunting is restricted and closely regulated.
• Biosphere reserve:
  • A unique and representative land or coastal ecosystem recognised internationally under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
  • It is laid out in more or less concentric zones: core, buffer, transition, and an outer zone of human encroachment.
  • MAB has three functions:
    • Conservation: of genetic resources, species, ecosystems and landscapes.
    • Development: sustainable human and economic development.
    • Logistic support: for research and analysis on conservation and sustainable development.
  • India’s programme began in 1986, aiming at one site in each biogeographic province. Of the 18 reserves, 13 are in UNESCO’s world network, the latest being Cold Desert in Himachal Pradesh on 27 September 2025.
  • Other named lists include bird sanctuaries, biodiversity hotspots and biodiversity heritage sites.

Project Tiger

• Launch: 1 April 1973, one of the country’s leading conservation efforts. It is centrally financed.
• Aim: a viable tiger population, kept for its scientific, economic, cultural, aesthetic and ecological worth, with biologically important areas held as a national heritage.
• Reserves: 27 in 17 States in older accounts, 51 in 18 States in a later count, and 58 in 18 States since Madhav in Madhya Pradesh was added in March 2025.
• Older counts, by pugmark: 711 in 1979, 1,141 in 1984, 1,327 in 1989, 1,396 in 1993 and 3,642 in 2001. The method was later replaced, so these are not comparable with what follows.

• 2018: the fourth cycle counted 2,967, up 33% from 2,226 in 2014, on a range-wide survey.
• 2022: 3,682 (range 3,167–3,925). Madhya Pradesh (785), Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560) and Maharashtra (444) lead.
  • In 2018 Madhya Pradesh (526) and Karnataka (524) together held about a third of the total.
• The sixth cycle began in January 2026, and its national result is awaited. The Tiger Census 2022 gives the last full picture.
• By region:

• Habitat warning: the 2010 survey found tiger territory down from 93,600 to 72,800 sq km.
• Salient features:
  • 2006 amendment of the Act, creating the National Tiger Conservation Authority, from 4 September 2006.
  • Tiger Protection Force of ex-army personnel and local workers, with central aid.
  • Core or critical tiger habitat notified by the tiger States, with a buffer around it.
  • Understanding with Nepal on illegal trade, a protocol with China, and the Global Tiger Forum.
  • The tiger reserves are also linked to the International Big Cat Alliance, launched on 9 April 2023 at the Project’s 50-year mark.
• Tourism in core areas: the Supreme Court banned it in July 2012, then lifted the ban on 16 October 2012 once the Authority’s guidelines were notified.

Other Named Programmes

• Project Elephant (February 1992): a centrally sponsored scheme that gives money and technical help to States with free-ranging wild elephants, to keep viable herds in natural habitat.
• Elephant estimates:

• The 2021-25 figure uses a new method, so it cannot be read directly as a fall. Earlier estimates were broadly stable.
• 33 elephant reserves now span 14 States.
• Crocodile Breeding Project: initiated on 1 April 1974 and begun on 1 April 1975 in Odisha, at Bhitarkanika, with UNDP and FAO help.
  • Method: eggs were reared and young released, and crocodile husbandry was tied to sanctuary development.
  • Early results: gharial eggs hatched at Tikerpada in June 1975. By 1978, there were 16 rearing centres in eight States.
  • Sites: Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, and the Chambal sanctuary shared by Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
• Project Lion (2020 onward) and Project Cheetah (2022) cover the two big cats above.
• Project Snow Leopard: for high-altitude ranges.
• Project Dolphin (15 August 2020): the first survey gave 6,327 river dolphins in March 2025. A second round began in January 2026.
• Action Plan for Vulture Conservation (2020–2025):
  • It extends the 2006 plan, the year veterinary diclofenac was restricted after it poisoned vultures feeding on carcasses.
  • Conservation breeding centres, led by the Jatayu centre at Pinjore, hold birds safe while the food chain is cleaned, for later release.
  • It also calls for Vulture Safe Zones in every State and new centres in several more.
• Great Indian Bustard: the wild population is about 130 birds (±21), in only 16% of its potential Thar habitat. Breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra hold a captive stock, and overhead power lines remain a major threat.
• Conservation efforts and projects carry fuller lists.

Measures of Conserving Wildlife

• Enforce the ban on hunting strictly, and keep poachers and herders out of reserves.
• Establish more national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• Develop existing parks and sanctuaries further, with more amenities.
• Encourage captive breeding.
• Provide medical care for animals in parks and sanctuaries, so that their health improves.
• Create proper conditions for wild animals to live and breed in these parks and sanctuaries.
• Spread awareness through seminars, workshops and exhibitions.
• Bring degraded forest and marginal land under afforestation, so that habitats grow.