India’s wild heritage

Jun 6
06:09

2011

Uday Patel

Uday Patel

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And article on Indian wildlife and animals and birds found in the country. Find information on National Parks in the states of India.

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Diversity is the key attraction of wildlife in India. The country is divided into varied geographical zones hence varied habitat types. This has given rise to tremendous life forms that are diverse enchanting and amazing. 

Millions of people from India and abroad visit the protected areas of the country on wildlife watching trips. The mega fauna attracts the most visitors especially the tiger,India’s wild heritage Articles lion and wild elephants. Other attractions are the bison, rhino, wild ass, leopard, swamp deer and endemic goat antelopes like the tahr and ibex.       

Lesser known animals but by all means enchanting are the snow leopard, hoolock gibbon, clouded leopard, brown and black bear. There are more than 350 species of mammals in India. They are found from far reaches of Himalayas to Nilgiri and Western Ghats.  

Smaller fauna like wild dog, caracal, wolf, sloth bear, and sambar deer, barking deer, four horned deer and the chevrotain are often sighted during the wildlife safaris in India. Endemic animals like Nilgiri tahr, ibex, goral, golden langur, Nilgiri langur, and lion tailed macaque, wild ass and many more sought after by tourists deeply interested in wildlife. 

The wildlife tourism model in India is changing and nature lovers are getting interested in species other than tiger and leopard. A holistic experience is better than chasing mega fauna. The tiger remains the prime attraction in India especially in Madhya Pradesh. The endangered status and amazing charisma will attract tourists to the country eternally. 

But the land of the tiger is home to many other equally charismatic animals in India. Thus tiger safaris yield much more than tiger sightings in the reserves of the country. Best examples of this are Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh National Park in MP.    

The species survive in protected areas in India like tiger reserves, National Parks and sanctuaries. Hence these are the target destination for nature tours in the country. The most popular National Parks are:

Gir National Park – Gujarat – Asiatic LionKaziranga National Park – Assam – RhinoCorbett Tiger Reserve  - Uttaranchal – Wild ElephantRanthambhore Tiger Reserve – Rajasthan – TigerKanha National Park – MP – Tiger/Swamp Deer/ BisonBandhavgarh & Pench National Parks – Madhya Pradesh – TigerWild Ass – Gujarat – Little Rann of Kutch Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (Satpura) – MP – Bison & TigerPeriyar Tiger Reserve – Kerala – Wild Elephants/Bison Melghat Tiger Reserve – Maharastra – Bison Namdhapa National Park – Arunachal Pradesh – Hoolock Gibbon, Snow Leopard, Elephant.Manas – Assam – Golden LangurWestern Ghats, Top Slip/Nilgiri Preserve – Tahr, Lion Tailed Macaque, Nilgir Langur

The list is endless but there are many books published on animals of India. This publication will reveal more information on endemic and rare species to be sighted in the country. 

There are many tour operators that conduct wildlife tours in India in packages. These are ideal for safaris in various states of the Nation. For tiger sighting MP tourism packages are the best. 

The best season for travel is the winters. Though a period around December may be extremely cold most of the season is enjoyable with salubrious sunshine all over.  For wildlife photography and film making hot summers are very good whence wild animals congregate near the water holes in most of the parks.