Biology · Ch 13 — Biodiversity and its Conservation
Endangered Organisms of India
Endangered Organisms of India
India's exceptional overall biodiversity, discussed in the previous sections, exists alongside a correspondingly large and growing list of species now classified as threatened, reflecting the same pressures of habitat loss, over-exploitation, and other causes examined earlier in this chapter, acting on India's own wildlife.
A number of India's larger, more visible animal species illustrate the range of threats involved. The tiger (Panthera tigris), and specifically the Bengal tiger subspecies (Panthera tigris tigris) found across the Indian subcontinent, is currently classified as Endangered, its numbers reduced chiefly by habitat loss and fragmentation of the forest landscapes it depends on, together with continuing poaching pressure. The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is similarly classified as Endangered, threatened principally by the fragmentation of its large forest home ranges and by the resulting rise in conflict with expanding human settlements and agriculture along elephant migration corridors. The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), a large ground-dwelling bird of India's dry grassland regions, is classified as Critically Endangered, its population reduced severely by the loss of open grassland habitat to agriculture and, increasingly, by fatal collisions with overhead power transmission lines strung across its remaining range. The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), a fish-eating crocodilian easily recognised by its unusually long, thin snout, is likewise classified as Critically Endangered, its riverine nesting sandbanks disrupted by dam construction and by extensive sand-mining along the northern Indian river systems it depends on. The Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia), found across India's high-altitude Himalayan terrain, is classified as Vulnerable, threatened by poaching for its fur and by a shrinking wild prey base at high altitude. …
What this figure shows. A gallery of five labelled sketches arranged in a row, each showing one named Indian animal alongside its current IUCN threat status and its main threat. The Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is shown with the status Endangered and the threat 'habitat loss and poaching'. The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is shown with the status Endangered and the threat 'habitat fragmentation and human-elephant conflict'. The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is shown with the status Critically Endangered and the threat 'grassland habitat loss and collision with power lines'. The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), drawn with its distinctive long thin snout, is shown with the status Critically Endangered and the threat 'river damming and sand-mining of nesting banks'. The Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) is shown with the st …