Important facts about Wildlife

Under the agreement of Human Environment Conference 1972 (Stockholm) the Project Tiger was launched in India in 1973 with the help of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).  According to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, India, there were only 9 tiger reserved in India during 1973-74 whereas there have  been established 41 of them till January 2013.

• The Sunderbans area in West Bengal is famous for Royal Bengal Tiger.

• The Lion is found naturally only in India, besides Africa. In India, its only one natural habitat is Gir forest (Saurashtra) in Gujarat. In 1972, the Gir Lion Project was launched for its protection.

• Project Crocodile was launched in 1975. Programmes are being run at several places for encouragement of its protection and safe reproduction. Among them, Tikrapara (Angul, Odisha), Mahanadi (Odisha), Kukrail (Lucknow) etc are prominent. The National Chambal Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh) is important for protection of crocodiles. Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh) is important for protection of crocodiles. Both ghariyal and alligator belong to the species of crocodile. However, there are some differences between them.

• The one-horned rhinoceros is found only in India. Project Rhinoceros was launched in 1987 for its protection. The one-horned rhinoceros has been given protection in Kaziranga (Assam). Besides this place, it is found in the marshy lands of Manas (Assam) and Joldapara (West Bengal).

• The Elephant is an animal of equatorial sub-tropical forest. In India, it is found in the jungles of Assam, Kerala and Karnataka where there is heavy rain and high temperature. ‘Projects Elephant’ was there launched in 1992 to increase the number of elephant reserves in India. The National Parks of Dehing Patkai and Kaziranga in Assam, Periyar in Kerala and Mysore and Bhadra forest areas in Karnataka are important habitats of the elephant.

• The Dachigam National Park in Jammu and Kashmir is famous for Hangul (Kashimiri tag).

• The great Indian Bustard is found in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) and Malwa. At present it is an endangered species.

• The Flamingo lays eggs by making a nest in the Rann of Kachchh.

• The Rann of Kachchh is the natural habitat of the wild ass.

• Ostriches are found in the Desert National Park, Jaisalmer.

• Snow-leopards and pandas are found in the high regions of the Himalayas.

• The wild sheep, sakin (long-horned wild goat), tapir, hill goat etc are the main animals of the Himalayan region.

• The Keoladeo (Ghana) Bird Sanctuary is famous as the winter migratory place for Siberian crane. It is India’s largest bird sanctuary.

• The Nandan Kanan Zoological Park (Bhuwaneswar, Odisha) is famous for white tiger.

• India’s largest zoo is in Alipore, Kolkata.

• The Gangetic dolphins live in the Ganga. They blind by birth.