Wildlife in India- Explore the Rich Diversity of Flora and Fauna

India is the large country with diverse landscapes with extremes on the land limits. India lies on the southern hemisphere with surrounded by almost on three sides. On the north of India, it has one of the mightiest mountain range, The Himalayas. On the other hand, India has a long coastline ranging up to 7000km. This diversity in landforms is also blessed with diversity of flora and fauna in India.

India is characterized with unique richness and diversity of its vegetation and wildlife. India’s dense forest reserves are the perfect abode for its equally dense wildlife which includes about 350 mammal species, more than 1200 species of birds in nearly 2100 forms and more than 30,000 species of insects. Besides this, there is rich wealth of marine life having number of species of fish, amphibian and reptiles. More than 75 national parks, 425 sanctuaries cover over 4.5% of India’s geographical area. Indian wildlife has got important place in its rich heritage and culture. Many animals and plants are worshipped and are regarded as the companions in India.

Number of national parks and bird sanctuaries mark the India terrain from Ladakh in Himalayas to Southern tip of Tamil Nadu. In India, these parks and sanctuaries are reserved areas where no human activity can take place, regularized under the special act. These special areas are maintained for the conservation of endangered species of wildlife in India. Bengal Tigers, the Asiatic Elephant, Lion, the Snow Leopard and Siberian Crane are the endangered species in India. These conservation efforts are paying off as there is regular increase in population of wild Elephant, tiger and leopard.

Jim Corbett national Park in the foothills of Himalayas is the first national park of India having great variety of mammals and over 585 bird species. You can explore in their natural habitat big mammals like elephant, sambhar, swamp deer, cheetal, wild boar, tiger, panther, hyena, black bear, sloth bear, Great Indian one horned rhinoceros, golden langur, wolf, cats in foothills of Himalayas and western Himalayas.

The most reputed are the Kanha national park and Bandhavgarh national park in central India having dense forests and dense population of wildlife. Kanha houses the largest original tiger reserves. Species of swamp deer are found in Kanha National Park and Dudhwa national park in Uttar Pradesh. Most of the national parks and sanctuaries are found in northern part of India but South India too has its portion e.g. Madumalai in Tamil Nadu and Bandipur Tiger reserves, Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka. Each sanctuary and national park supports several species of wildlife, while at the same time, some are well known for one particular species. In some wildlife sanctuaries in India you can even see rare or endangered species.

To explore Wildlife in India, one can take advantage of various wildlife tour packages offered by many tour operators in India. Some of India's famous wildlife sanctuaries and national parks include :

Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand)
Ranthambore National Park (Rajasthan)
Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary (Rajasthan)
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary (Rajashtan)

Kaziranga National Park (Assam)
Manas National Park (Assam)
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala)
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary (Kerala)
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala)

Sunderban Tiger Reserve (West Bengal)
Bandhavgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh)
Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh)
Panna National Park (Madhya Pradesh)

Gir Wildlife Sanctuary (Gujarat)
Dudhwa National Park (Uttar Pradesh)
Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh)