India is endowed with some of the best gifts of nature. It is a land of rich biodiversity that does not compare with other regions of the world. It is blessed with a rainforest to dry out the deciduous forests and snowy Himalayas that are adorned with rare wildlife species from the world. India has a wide range of species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

These natural treasures of our country are gradually decreasing in population. They are at immediate risk of extinction due to deforestation, urbanization, habitat destruction, shortage of prey, poaching, and changing environmental scenery. In 2004, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) classified the wildlife species of India into four main categories, such as En Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU) and Threatened.

Threatened species can be defined as those that are less numerous and are on the verge of extinction. These species need special protection for their survival.

Some of the endangered species of India are as follows:

Asiatic lion:

Asian lions are famous as the “Lord of the Beasts”. The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) is one of the seven subspecies of the Lion. Its only habitat in India is Gujrat’s Gir national park. They are slightly smaller than their African cousin. Their population has been drastically reduced mainly due to overhunting, a shortage of prey, and water pollution in their natural habitat.

Royal Bengal tiger:

The Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) is the second largest subspecies of tiger. It is the national animal of India. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority of the Government of India, India has a population of 1,411 royal tigers. Its main habitats are grasslands, tropical and subtropical forests, scrub forests, moist and dry deciduous forests, and mangrove forests. They are mainly found in the Sunderban National Park of West Bengal. They are under constant threat of extinction due to reduced natural habitat, a shortage of prey, and poaching for their beautiful fur.

Great one-horned Indian rhinoceros:

The high grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas are the main abode of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). They are mainly found in Kaziranga, with a population of no more than 1200, Manas, and the Orang National Park of Assam. Even in two reserve forests in Assam, such as the Pobitora reserve forest (which has the highest density of Indian rhinos in the world) and the Laokhowa reserve forest. The one-horned rhino is hunted primarily for its horn.

Indian elephant:

The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one of the subspecies of the Asian elephant. Indian elephants resemble African elephants but have short ears and tusks. They are considered an endangered species and their total strength in India ranges from 20,000 to 25,000. They live in or near scrub areas in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Karnataka. Although they have a tendency to change their habitat because they are nomadic in nature. They are endangered due to excessive poaching for ivory in their tusks, loss of habitat and loss of genetic diversity.

Snow leopard:

Snow leopards (Uncea uncea) are found in areas with an altitude of more than 3200 m (10,500 ft) in the Himalayan regions of northern India, such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the states of the northeast of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. These animals are hunted for their beautiful fur and their bones are used in oriental medicines. They are also killed as they are considered predators of living populations.

Wild water buffalo:

The wild water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a bovine animal. These are one of the endangered species of India and their total strength is supposed to be only 4000. They are mainly found in the Kaziranga national park of Assam and Chattisgarh. At some point, you could also locate them in some of the Meghalaya and Maharashtra sites. They are in danger due to interbreeding with domestic buffalo and the destruction of their natural habitat.

Hoolock Gibbon:

The Hoolock gibbon (Bunopithecus hoolock) is the only ape found in India. They are also called White-browed Gibbon because of their white eyebrows. Its main habitats include evergreen tropical forests, semi- and subtropical forests, and mountain forests. They are mainly found in Kaziranga National Park, Assam and Manas Wildlife Sanctuaries and Borajan Forest Reserve and in Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. They are threatened due to hunting for their meat, the cultivation of jhum (displacement and burning) and logging.

Ganges river dolphin:

In India, river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) are found in the Ganges, Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries. It is an aquatic mammal. In the Ganges region they are commonly known as “Susu”, while in the Brahmaputra region they are called “Hihu”. These are also an endangered species with only an estimated 2000 river dolphins in India. The main reasons behind its population decline are fishing (gillnets), poaching, dam building (Farakka dam) on the Ganges and other dams, sand mining (on Assam’s Kulsi river ), deforestation and oil extraction. (Its oil is used as a medicine for rheumatism and for the preparation of bait for catfish, Clupisoma garua).