India is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is a biodiversity hotspot with its various ecosystems ranging from the Himalayas in the north to the evergreen rainforests in the south, the desert sands of the west to the marshy mangroves of the east. India, lying within the Indomalayan realm, is home to about 7.6% of mammal, 14.7% of amphibian, 6% of bird, 6.2% of reptilian, and 6.0% of flowering plant species. India's forest lands nurture about 500 species of mammals and 2000+ bird species. This richness of Indian wildlife has been celebrated since time immemorial. Four of India’s national symbols consist India’s mammals.
India is one of the most biodiverse regions of the world and contains three of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots – the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas, and the Indo-Burma hotspot. It is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries. The country has seven Natural World Heritage sites, eleven Biosphere Reserves in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and thirty seven Ramsar Wetlands.
In response to decrease in the numbers of wild animals, human encroachment and poaching activities, the government of India established a system of national parks and protected areas in 1935, which was subsequently expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat. Further, federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s.
India has about 2,714 endemic Lichen species. In 2020, the Lichen Park in India was developed by the Uttarakhand Forest Department in Munsiyari.
Fauna
India is home to several well-known large animals, including the Indian elephant, Indian rhinoceros,Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, snow leopard, and clouded leopard.Bears include sloth bear, the Himalayan black bear, the Himalayan brown bear, and deer and antelopes include the chausinga antelope, the blackbuck, chinkara, chital, sambar (deer), Tibetan antelope, goa (antelope), Kashmir stag, and the barasinga. It is home to big cats like Bengal tiger and Indochinese tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, Indochinese leopard, snow leopard, and clouded leopard. Various species of caprines, including Bhutan and Mishmi takin, Himalayan and red goral, Himalayan serow, red serow, Himalayan tahr, and Nilgiri tahr, as well as the kiang and Indian wild ass can be found. Reptiles like king cobra, Indian cobra, Indian python, reticulated python, and gecko are common. Birds include Indian peacock, great Indian hornbill, painted stork, greater and lesser flamingo, and Eurasian spoonbill. Flora
There are about 18500 taxa of flowering plants from India. The Indian Forest Act, 1927 helped to improve the protection and security of the natural habitat. Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic. Flora and Vegetation of forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India, and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain. Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. Bamboo gardens are extremely common in jungles as well as villages. States like Sikkim and West Bengal have orchids. The national flower of India, the lotus flower, is common in lakes and ponds.
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