The concept of forest and wildlife conservation is very old to India. Our Indian Culture and literature teach nonviolence and respect for even lowly animal forms. Since time immemorial, wildlife here has enjoyed a privileged position of protection through religious ideals and sentiments.

      Many of the gods are associated with certain animals: Brahma with the deer, Vishnu with the lion and cobra, Siva with the bull, and Ganesh, the eternal symbol of wisdom, is half man and half elephant. The earliest known conservation laws come from India in the 3rd century BC, when Emperor Ashoka wrote the Fifth Pillar Edict, forbidding the slaughter of certain wildlife and the forests. Unfortunately, during the recent turbulent history of India, much of this tradition has been lost. Extensive hunting by the British and Indian rajas, large-scale clearing of forests for agriculture, availability of guns, poaching, strong pesticides and the ever - increasing population have had disastrous effects on India's environment. Only around 10% of the country still has forest cover, and only 4% is protected within national parks and similar reserves. However, in the past few decades the government has taken serious steps towards environmental man- agement and has established over 350 parks, sanctuaries and reserves.

      The diversity of India's climate and topography is reflected in its rich flora & fauna. India is renowned for its tigers, elephants and rhinoceroses, but these are just three of the more than 500 species of mammals living in the country. The beautiful land of jungles is the best place in the world to see. India has for years on attracted the attentions of wildlife connoisseurs. The last natural home of the majestic tiger is also known for a number of other species that are almost synonymous just with India. These include the wild ass, the one-horned rhinoceros, the black buck and the Indian elephant. The variety of wildlife you can see in India is truly astonishing, no where else you can find such an fascinating variety and numbers it possesses.

      Conservation projects have been established to preserve them, but for some species, such as the Indian cheetah, protection has come too late - the Indian cheetah was last seen in 1948.

      A variety of deer and antelope species can be seen, but these are now mostly confined to the protected areas because of competition with domestic animals and the effects of their diseases. They include graceful Indian gazelles (chinkaras); Indian antelopes (blackbucks); diminutive, four-homed ante- lopes (chowsinghas); large and ungainly looking blue bulls (nilgais); rare swamp deer (barasinghas); sambars, India's largest deer; beautiful spotted deer (chitals); the larger barking deer (muntjacs); and the tiny mouse deer (chevrotains). Also seen are wild buffaloes, massive Indian bisons (gaurs), shaggy sloth bears, striped hyenas, wild pigs, jackals, Indian foxes, wolves, and Indian wild dogs (dhole), which resembles giant foxes but roam in packs in forests.

      Amongst the smaller mammals are mongooses, renowned as snake killers, and giant squirrels. Cats include leopards, panthers, short- tailed jungle cats, and beautiful leopard cats. Various monkeys can be seen, with rhesus macaques, bonnet macaques (in the south only) and long-tailed common langurs the most likely.

      India is blessed with over 2000 species and sub-species of birds. The diverse birdlife of the forests includes large hornbills, serpent eagles and fishing owls, as well as the elegant national bird, the peacock. Waterbirds, such as herons, ibises, storks, cranes, pelicans and others, are seen not only in parks but at numerous special waterbird sanctuaries. These sanctuaries contain large breeding colonies, and are of great importance for the countless numbers of migrating birds which visit India annually.

     Among the other wildlife are over 500 species of reptiles and amphibians, including magnificent king cobras, pythons, crocodiles, large freshwater tortoises and monitor lizards. There are also 10,000 insect species. including large and colourful butlerflies.

     The vegetation comprises some 15,000 species of plants. Many of the wildlife sanctuaries, and some national parks, have been established in the former private hunting reserves of the British and Indian aristocracy. India is divided into three main regions, each with many suhregions and distinctive altitudinal climatic variations. Major wildlife sanctuaries include Corbett, Kanha, Periyar (known for its elephants), Kaziranga (rhinos), Ranthambore, The little Rann of Kutch (wild asses) and Point Calimere (Flamingoes).


     The jungles are thick and wooded with the flora to back up the fabulous fauna. Evergreen forests in the north-east and along the Western Ghats, moist and dry deciduous forests of the plains, swampy marshes of Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, pinewoods of the Himalayan foothills and the lagoons and estuaries down south - each pave for a different ecosystem, sheltering unique forms of plant and animal life.