Essay on the Wild Life of India!
Indian subcontinents are unique in having immense natural beauty in its different biomes and also in possessing a rich and diverse wild life fauna (see chapters 22 and 23). It includes about 123 families of terrestrial vertebrates.
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According to an estimate, there are 400 species of mammals, 1200 species of birds, 350 species of reptiles and more than 29,70,000 species of insects (Khajuria, 1957). The animals like black buck, Nilgiri tahr, pigmy hog, golden langur, lion-tailed macaque, etc., are unique to India the other typical wild animals of India are elephant; rhinoceros ; deer such as musk deer (kastura), barking deer (kotra), spotted deer (cheetal), hog deer (hoghiran), mouse deer (Indian chevrotain), swamp deer (Bara singha), dancing deer (sambhar), Thamin, and kashmir stag: antelopes like black buck, four-horned antelope (chausingha), Indian gazelle (chinkara), and blue bull (nilgai) ; bison ; “wild buffalo; Himalayan ibex or wild goat (Capra siberica) ; wild boar ; wild ass; Nilgiri tahr ; carnivores such as big cats like lion, tiger and leopard ; striped hyaena ; wolf ; bears like black Himalayan bear and sloth bear; monkeys and apes like Nilgiri langur (Ceropi-, thecus johni), lion tailed monkey (Macaca silensus), rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatto), and Hanuman monkey (Semnopiihecus entellus) ; Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) ; porcupine ; pangolin : birds like peafowl (Pavo cristatus), jungle fowl, partridge, quail, great Indian bustard (Choriotes nigriceps), duck, pigeon, sandgrouse, storks and egrets, pelican, eagle, crane owl, hornbill, etc., and reptiles such as crocodiles, gharials, lizards (Urnmastix) and enormous varieties (about 216 species) of snakes. Wild life management requires autecological informations about game animals and some basic facts of game species are the following:
Deer:
The deer belong to the family ‘Cervidae’ of the mammalian older ‘Artiodactyla’ and they are herbivores and form significant component of grazing food-chains of the Indian forests. They control the overgrowth of forest vegetation and themselves become food of carniores.
Due to limited shelter and food supply, deforestation, urbanisation, mass hunting, etc., there has been a great reduction in the number of deer population in India. Sangai of Manipur or brow-antlered deer (Cervus eldi eldi) is at the verge of extinction.
The musk deer (Moschus moschiferus) is found at 2500 to 4000 metres altitudes in Himalayas, Himachal Pradesh, Northern Uttar Pradesh, Nepal and Sikkim. It is about 50 cm high, has long cars, short tail and gall-bladder, but no antlers and no pit-glands (suborbital glands) below the eyes. Male or buck has downwardly projecting canines of the upper jaw. It is a shy animal and lives a solitary life.
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This deer has been almost hunted out mainly for musk which is a valuable product used as perfume fixative and as important ingredient of several Aurvedic and Homeopathic drugs and is obtained from the musk pouch existing below the skin of abdomen of buck. For the conservation of musk deer a National Park of 1.000 sq. km has been established at Manali in Kulu Valley by Himachal Pradesh Government.
The barking deer or rib-faced deer (Cervulus muntjac) is found at the altitudes of 2000 to 3000 metres and has four subspecies in India. It is 61 cm in height and has suborbital glands below eyes. Buck has antlers and non-protruding canines. It lives in pairs or small families in thickets and being diurnal, grazes in the morning and evening hours.
The dancing deer or sambhar (Cervusunicolour) is large-sized (150-160 cm high), browsing and gregarious deer, occurring in the herds of 4 to 12 animals and is found in forests all over the country. It has very long (up to 100 cm) antlers. The spotted deer or cheetal (Axis axis) is 76 to 91 cm high, grazing and gregarious living in the herds of 20 to 30. It is spotted with white on rich brown coat.
The buck has long slender antlers, each of which has three branches or tines and is shed annually. It is mostly found in the forests of Indian plains and in hills up to 1333 metres but are not found in Assam, Punjab and Rajasthan. It prefers open type forests with good grazing sites and running streams.
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The hog deer (Axis porcinus) is smaller and stouter in built and has hog-like appearance. It lives either solitary or in pair and prefers to live in grass patches bordering on forests. It is diurnal and comes out to feed only during morning and evening.
Antelopes and Other Herbivores:
Antelopes:
In India there are four species of antelopes: the Indian gazelle, nilgai, black buck and chowsingha.
The Indian gazelle or chinkara (Gazella dorcas bennetii) is mostly found throughout desert region of southern part of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It lives in herds of 3 to 5 animals and has adaptations to live in extremely arid conditions, kilometres away from drinking water sourees (Prakash, 1977). It prefers to live in open grasslands with thick bush cover. They feed on a variety of grasses and browse on shrubs.
The nilgai or blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) occurs in plains and Rajasthan deserts but not in Bengal and Assam, living in small herds of 4 to 10. It prefers to stay near cultivated lands but is also found in desert grasslands. It is 131—137 cm high, females being smaller. Young bulls and cows are tawny, but old males have iron gray colour. Both sexes have a short dark mane on the neck. Male has small cone-shaped curved horns.
In Thar desert it is regarded sacked like ‘cow’, so is spared from hunting. However, it is killed under crop-protection act, because herds of nilgai inflict severe damage to crops.
The black buck has its four subspecies in India: Antelope cervicapra rajputanae, Antelope cervicapra cervieapra, Antelope cervicapra rupicapra and Antelope cervicapra centralis. Black buck is a graceful and fast-running animal which occurs in grassy plains of India and avoids forests. It inhabits regions having scrub vegetation in the vicinity of tanks and lakes where they pass the day hiding under bushes and become active during nights.
The male antelope is brown or black in colour while doe and fawns are yellowish brown in colour. Male has spirally ringed, unbranched, long (46 cm) and permanent horns. There occur large preorbital glands below the eyes of both sexes. Black buck is a polygamous and gregarious animal and its herd often include single male, several (50 or more) females and a few fawns.
Almost all subspecies of black bucks have been hunted out from most part of India and now they occur in appreciable numbers only in certain pockets of Rajasthan, especially around the villages of ‘Visnoi caste’ of Hindus, who protect them from hunting.
The four-horned antelope or chausingha (Tetracerus quadricornis) has two pairs of horns, the front pair being shorter. It occurs in the foot hills of the Himalayas and in Bundel Khand region. It mostly leads a solitary life.
Wild-buffalo:
The wild buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large-sized, robust animal having streamlined body. It prefers tall grassy forests close to marshy areas in the vicinity of rivers and lakes. It was once distributed over the grass jungles and river in forests of the Gangetic plain, the terai, Assam and eastern peninsular India down to the river Godavari.
Great hunting of wild buffalo has restricted them now only to Assam (Manas and Kaziranga sanctuaries), the Nepal Terai and Bastar district in Madhya Pradesh. According to Sheshadaril969), there are only 1425 wild buffaloes in India.
Bison:
Mithun, bull gaur or bison (Bos gaurus) is a relative of ox and is found in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Due to certain epidemic diseases such as rinderpest and enteric viral disease numerous individuals were wiped out some years ago and now a few bisons are mainly confined to Bandipur in Karnataka.
Wild goat and sheep:
In India, wild goat and sheep are restricted to north. Ibex is found in the Himalayas. The Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius) is the only one to be in south, in Niliris, Tamil Nadu. It moves about in herds and grazes on grasses. This species is greatly endangered due to habitat disturbance, predation by black panther and wild dogs (dhole) and hunting by poachers and only 450 tahr are present today (Davidar, 1975).
Elephant:
The Indian elephant, Elephas maximus is a largest terrestrial mammal and is confined to the Terai and the foot-hills because of its dependence on succulent grass: bamboo and plenty of water. It is gregarious and its herds move constantly in the search of new feeding grounds. Its population is hunted out rapidly for tusk and now Periyar fanctury (Madras) has some elephants.
Rhinoceros:
The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is found in the grasslands and jungle area of the foot hills of the Himalayas (central Nepal) and certain pockets of plains of West Bengal and Assam. It prefers swamps and open savannah, covered with the tall elephant grass.
A full grown rhinoceros is 18 metres in height and 3″9 metres in length. It has a single horn on the nose. The horn is made of keratinized skin and matted hair, it is said to have aphrodisiac and other medicinal values, so that large sums are paid for it, this result in indiscriminate shooting and it’s near extinction in India. It is a slow, solitary animal and is strictly territorial.
Wild Ass:
The wild ass (Equs hemionus khur) had a fairly wide distribution in the dry regions of North-West India (Jaisalmer and Bikaner), but their distribution now become restricted to the Little Rann in the southern part of the Thar desert, where Gee (l963) estimated their number to be 870 In past, the population of wild ass severly reduced due to hunting, catching for breeding mules, surra disease and south African Horse sickness disease.
However, people around the Little Rann are orthodox and vegetarian and do not molest the wild ass in spite of the fact they inflict serious damages to crops. Because it is the only true of the world, so it needs protection and conservation (Prakash, 1977).
Wild Boar:
The wild boar, Sus scrofa cristntus, has a long mobile snout with terminal nostrils. The canines of both jaws grow continuously and form long triangular and up curved tusks for defence and digging roots, they are better developed in males.
The wild boar or pig is omnivorous; it feeds on carrion, snakes, insects, roots, tubers and cultivated crops. It is gregarious living in families in grass or bush of marshy places and is now rare and is mostly found in small numbers along the Aravalli ranges in the eastern most part of Thar Desert where they inhabit rocky slopes.
Big Cats and Other Carnivores:
India has a variety of world-known large-sized cats and other carnivores which are as follows:
The Asiatic lion, Panthera lea persica was found in the Thar Desert, in the arid plains of Sind, and Rajasthan and Punjab. It is on record that the last lions were shot at Anadra and at Jaswantpura of Rajasthan desert in about 1876. In India lions are now preserved only in the Gir sanctuary, in Gujrat, on the South-West of the Thar Desert. Its extermination is well known.
The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus venaticus was found in Central India, Deccan region, and in Thar Desert up to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Sheshadri (1969) stated that it disappeared from Rajasthan about the turn of this century, from Central India in 1920’s and in Deccan it was last reported in 1952. Now the cheetah, one of the most beautiful, agile and fastest animal, is regarded to be extinct from India.
The tiger Panthera Tigris is a gracious carnivore which is distributed in Uttar Pradesh from the Himalayas to the Vindhya forests in the South? In Himalayas it is found up to an elevation of about 2,000 metres. It lives in a variety of habitats, from thorn forests to the dense Terai forests.
According to an estimate, in 1948, the tiger population was 20,000 to 25000, but in 1958, about 4000 and in 1970 less than 3000 (merely 1540; Daniel. 1970). To save the Tiger from extinction in India, “Project tiger” has been launched in 1972; this project planned to create Tiger reserves in selected areas of India. Due to this effort, considerable improvement was observed in tiger population in 1973.
The leopard, panthera pardus is the smaller spotted cousin of tiger which can live in all types of forests. Once it was found all over India but now its number has been drastically reduced.
Leopard is given full protection in the Mount Abu sanctuary, however, can be hunted under licence from the Indian wild Life Act. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is found in the high Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim near snow line.
It has a creamy grey coat with large black rings. It is greatly hunted for its fur and now is endangered species. Other important cats are clouded leopard (Neo- felis nebulosa), leopard cat (Felis bengalensis), Pallas’s cat (Felis manul), caracal (Felis caracal), etc. Caracal once was common in Rajasthan deserts, now it has become extremely rare and is suspected to occur only in the Sirohi-Jalore and Bikaner regions (Prakash, 1977).
The sloth bear, Melursuu ursinus, is a stout carnivore which is found in the hilly forests like Mount Abu and Erinpura ranges. It lives mostly on fruits, honey and insects; it sucks up white ants from their hills which are broken by its claws with great speed.
It is rapidly vanishing due to ruthless hunting and it needs conservation. The black Himalayan bear, Selenarctos tibetanus, is larger than a sloth bear, has V-shaped white mark on the chest and is carnivorous.
Dolphin:
In the Indus river, in the North-West and in the rivers Chenab and Sutlaj in the north of the Thar desert, the fresh-water gangetic dolphin, Platanisia gangetica (Cetacean mammal) was once found in good numbers (Murray, 1884), but is now totally extinct (Prakash, 1977).
Birds:
The important wild bird-fauna of India include the following species : pea fowl (Pavo cristatus), grey jungle fowl (Gallus sonnerali), red spur fowl.(Galloperdix spadicea), ducks (Anser indicus, Sarkidiornis melanotos, Anaspoecilorhyncha), pigeons (Columba livia), sand grouses (Pterocles exustus, P. orientalis,Streptopelia decaocta), storks (Leptotilos dubuis), egrets (Egretta garetta), grey partridge (Francolinus pondieirianus), black partridge (Francolinus francolinus), golden eagle (Aquilla chrysaetos), vultures (Gyps bengalensis, Neophron percnopterus), spotted billed pelican (Pelacanus philippensis), sarus crane (Grus antigone), quails (Coturnix coturnix, C.coromande- lica), and great Indian bustard (Choriotes nigriceps). Certain birds like osprey, great Indian bustard, cranes, mountain quail, horned owl, red start avocet, pinkheaded duck, etc., are on the verge of extinction, if not saved.
The Great Indian bustard is a large Indian game bird having a heavy body, long neck and long bare running legs. It is essentially an inhabitant of wide, open, dry scrubby plains and waste, broken undulating lands of the Rajasthan, West Punjab and Gujrat. It is ruthlessly hunted out for its delicious flesh and is almost at the verge of extinction. In 1980, an International Conference was held at Jaipur to assess its present position and to suggest conservation steps to save it from extinction.
Crocodiles and Other Aquatic Reptiles:
The following three Indian aquaiic reptiles have been found endangered: the estuarine crocodile (Crocodilus porosus); subnosedcrocodile, freshwater or marsh crocodile or muggar (Crocodilus palustris) and gharial (Gavialis gangeticus). The estuarine crocodile is found in Bhitarkanika Island and adjacent mangrove areas of Orissa and in the Sunderbans of West Bengal.
The marsh crocodile is widely distributed in India and has been greatly reduced in number in the past due to indiscriminate shooting for its valuable hide. Gavialis was once common in most large Indian rivers like Indus, Ganga, Brahmputra and Mahanadi, but now has very sparse distribution in Ganga and larger feeders in the Nepal-Terai, Bihar and Bengal.
According to Bustard (1974) Indian gharials are on the verge of extinction and there are only 143 living gharials (Subba Rao, 1977). Mugger is also fast depleting and may be endangered, if not saved. In 1974, under the guidance of Dr. H.R. Bustard the project called ‘save the crocodiles’ was started for the conservation and management of crocodiles, through the incubation of eggs, rearing and release in preserves.
Projects for preservation of muggar, estuarine crocodile and gharial are now being undertaken in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujrat, Kerala, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.