India
Wildlife Information
Wildlife Distribution in India
Zoo-geography
The presence or absence of an animal or plant in a certain region is determined
by ecological and historical factors. Populations of organisms can become established
in a region only if the range of conditions under which the species or individual
can thrive (its ecological valence) is consistent with the sum of the conditions
prevailing there. Animals and plants, then, are living indicators of the characteristics
of their environment, their ranges mark the places in which environmental conditions
are the same or similar.
To interpret the range of species properly, it is necessary to know in detail
the conditions required for the species to live and thrive. The science of
Zoo-geography has both ecological and historical aspects; the two are intimately
interwoven, and each helps to elucidate the other.
In the perspective of earth's history, the present position of India is of recent
origin, and it forms a part of the Oriental region in the above - Zoo-geographic
classification. Tens of millions of years ago, India was not even part of Asia.
It was an island-continent, edging slowly northwards towards Asia across a vanished
ocean which also isolated Africa from Eurasia.
The Himalaya Foothills
The Himalayan foothills are characterized by bhabar and tarai formations and
the Siwalik ranges in the South. The bhabar tract consists of thick boulder
deposits where the water table is very low. The conditions are relatively drier
here. The tarai region consists of thick deposits of fine silt, the drainage
is poor and the water table is high. The natural monsoon forest extends well
into this region. The dominant species is sal. In its natural state, the tarai
is characterized by tall grassy meadows with savannah vegetation. This is one
of the richest areas fro the typical big mammals of Northern India. The elephant,
the similar, the swamp deer, cheetal, hog deer, barking deer, wild boar, all
abound in this area. This is also the famous tiger country immortalized by Jim
Corbett. Panther and wild dogs are the co predators and the hyena, the jackal,
the camp followers of the tiger, scavenging on the remains of the tiger kill.
Both the black and the sloth bears are found in this area. Amongst the rodents,
porcupine is the most prominent animal. The great India On horned rhinoceros,
which once ranged all along the Himalayan foothills, is now confined to a few
pockets in Assam and Nepal tarai ad is considered a rare species.
The High Altitude Region of Western Himalayas (Kashmir & Western Ladakh
to Kumaon)
This region consists of the belt of coniferous -pine forests occupying the altitudinal
zone from 1500 mt, to nearly 2500 mt. the Rhododendron, dwarf hill bamboo and
birch forests mixed with alpine pastures extend above the pine belt upto the
snow line; the cold desert plateau of Ladakh exists in the extreme North West.
These higher reaches above the coniferous - belt represent the alpine zone.
The pine belt mostly acts as a transition zone for the rich fauna of the alpine
zone in the higher altitudes. During winter, when the environment in the alpine
zone becomes extremely cold, a number of species move down in this region. With
the summer thaw, the alpine pastures again turn green and become the grazing
grounds of most of these animals.
One of the typical animals of the high altitude, cold desert regions of Ladakh
and Tibet is the wild ass which is found in the paratactic deserts of Asia.
Though identified as a rare and endangered species, it is still fairly common
in Rupshu, Changthang and Chang Chenmo areas of Ladakh in the Indian region.
The bovid family is well represented in this park of the Himalaya, particularly
in the higher altitudes. More species of wild goats and sheep live in this
region than anywhere else. The largest bovid, the yak, has been domesticated
for centuries by the people of Tibet and Ladakh but wild yak can still be
found. They are black with long black horns and a little white on the muzzle.
Three species of wild goats occur in the Indian Himalaya. The highest coniferous
forests are roamed by thar, a typical goat with rather abort horns set close
together on top of the head. Thar are gregarious animals grazing in herds
while sentinels mount a look out for possible danger. Even higher, on the
finest of all goats with its long horns shaped like thick, heavy, cork screws.
The fur of markhor is rich reddish brown turning to grey in winter. Like all
wild goats, it is an amazingly agile climber. In winter, markhor retreats
to tower slopes where forage is more plentiful. They even climb along the
branches of evergreen oaks to browse its leaves.
The third goat found in the Western Himalayas is the ibex. But unlike thar
and markhor which are limited to the Himalaya, ibex has a much wider range,
inhabiting mountainous regions all over Central Asia from the Himalaya to
the Altai and extending westwards as far as Spain. The ibex live mainly above
the tree line grazing between rocky cracks and on meadows just below the snow
line.
Amongst the sheep also, there are three species of wild sheep typical of
the Western Himalaya. Nayan is the largest species of wild sheep and extends
from Ladakh to Tibet. It constitutes one of the 15 races or sub species of
Argali sheep which ranges from the Himalaya to Siberia. Morcopolo saw and
described one of these in the 13th century from which it was named as marcopolo's
sheep, renowned for its magnificent horns which curve round in a huge sweep,
making more than a complete circle.
The bhral or blue sheep occurs in the western himalaya extending to Sikkim
and Nepal. It has characters intermediate between the sheep and the goats,
Bharals are found at altitudes of 3600 m to 5000 m and feed on the rich and
abundant grass on the alpine meadows. Bharals feed in herds during the summer
months except for the old males which forage at higher elevations. During
the rest of the year, the ewes congregate in small harems round the male.
Their color of slaty blue merges perfectly with the rocky outcrops of their
habitat and it is difficult to spot them it they are motionless.
Two kinds of antelopes, the chiru and the Tibetan gazelle complete the list
of Himalayan and Tibetan bovids. Both graze on the high cold plateau regions
in Tibet and adjoining areas. The Chiru has a swollen muzzle which may be
an adaptation for breathing cold and rarefied air.
All these animals' are adapted to cold and harsh conditions. Their coat is
thick in the winter and thinner in the summer and the seasonal coats are often
differently colored so that they merge with the background and camouflage
the animals. All these animals except the two antelopes are sharp eyed and
marvelously rock climbers.
The musk deer is another deer which inhabits the high altitudes bordering the
tree line. This deer is much valued for its musk pods which are collected from
the males and used in the manufacture of perfumes. Due to large scale poaching,
this deer has now become threatened throughout its range. A special project
called the Musk - deer Breeding Project has been recently launched by the Government
of Uttar Pradesh.
The Eastern Himalayan Sub - Zone
From the dense evergreen and semi evergreen vegetation of the foothills in
the Eastern Himalaya, the character of vegetation changes at altitudes of
1525m to 1830m. Oaks, Magnolias, Laurels and birches covered with moss and
ferns replace the sal, silk-cotton trees, and giant bamboos of the foothills.
At about 2745 to 3660 m, one enters the coniferous forests of pine, fir, yew
and junipers. There is a undergrowth of scrubby Rhododendrons and dwarf bamboos.
The boundary between the temperate zone and the tropical forests of lower
altitudes and foothills is not sharply defined. Due to high humidity and much
higher altitudes than in the west. Snowfall is less common. The animal life
in the temperate region is different from the western Himalayas and is characterized
by the presence of Indo-Chinese fauna. The red panda, hog badgers, ferret
badgers, crestless sporcupines are typical species of this area.
Three kinds of goat antelopes also occur in the Eastern Himalaya and are
relatives of the European chamois, Scrow is a goat like animal with a black
coat, large cars, white beard and a grayish mane, it lives mostlyin the eastern
Himalaya in forests round 2000 mts, and also extends into the tropics in Malaya
and Sumatra where it occurs at lower altitudes on sleep limestone outcrops.
Goral is a smaller goat antelope found throughout the Himalayan range both
in the western and eastern Himalaya, living on rugged grassy hill sites and
on rocky grounds near the conifer forests. It is remarkably agile on the precipitous
chifls and screes. Goral has been a favourite game animal of the sportsmen
visiting Himalayan hill resorts, like the chamois in Europe.
Taking are the largest of the goat antelopes and characterize the eastern
Himalayan forests near the timber line. In summer, large herds graze above
the timber line but in winter, the animals break up into smaller groups and
migrate to grassy valleys lower down the mountains.
The Peninsular Indian Sub-Region
Peninsular India is the true home of the India fauna. It is characterized by
the raised plateau land of the Deccan extending northwards into the flood pains
of the Indo - Gangetic basin and westwards into the Great Thar desert of Rajasthan.
The Thar or the Indian desert is the area lying on the west of the Aravalli
ranges and just east of the Indus Valley. Ecologically, this may also include
the salt flats of the Little Rann of Kutch which lie to the southwest of Thar
desrt. The rainfall in the desert areas is less than 250mm per year and the
ecology of the area is completely different from the rest of peninsular India.
Peninsular India and the Drainage Basin of the Ganges
In its natural state, this region is the home of tropical moist deciduous
to tropical dry deciduous and scrub vegetation depending upon the variation
in rainfall and humidity. The northern and eastern extensions having relatively
higher rainfall have sal as the predominant species while the southern plateau
is characterized by teak as the principal species. The Western Ghats and the
central belt lying to the west of it, is a region of very high rainfall, and
is characterized by evergreen vegetation, its flora and fauna are being akin
to the evergreen rain forests of north-eastern India. In the drier north-western
portions bordering the Rajasthan desert and the Aravalli hills, the trees
are more scattered and thorny scrub species predominate. The forest gives
way to more open savannah habitat.
Some of the larger inhabitants of the Indian deciduous forests are animals
that are more widely spread in the rainforest. Elephant, munijak, the auriferous
sambar deer and the ubiquitous wild boar all occur in both habitats. The gaur
the huge characteristic bovid of Central India has its counter parts in rain
forests of Malaya, where it is called the seladang. India also has its own
species of mouse deer closely related to those of South-East Asia.
Antelopes and other bovids are the other group of ungulates present in the
India Peninsula. Unlike deer, they have permanent horns. One woodland species
of Indian Antelopes called the four-horned antelope has the unique distinction
of having two pairs of horns, two small horns at the front and two larger
horns at the back. This animal lives in pairs, inhabiting wooded hilly parts
of the country. Two large antelopes, the nilgai and the blackbuck also inhabit
the open habitats in the deciduous wood lands but are more characteristic
of the semi-desert and arid areas. The chinkara gazelle is the smallest of
the antelopes.
as the Himalayan foothills is the tiger. The Indian tiger or the Royal Bengal
tiger, as it is more often called, has come to be recognized as the type species
amongst the 8races of the tiger that the recognized all over its range of
distribution.
The other two big savannah cats of Peninsular India, the cheetah and the
lion also had their origin outside India in the Ethiopian region. The cheetah
or the hunting leopard is the fastest moving land animal.
Wildlife Sanctuary Map
Bharti Softland
