Endangered species in India

Critically Endangered
Geography by
Rushikesh Dudhat
Himalayan Brown/Red Bear
• Threats: loss of suitable habitat
and persecution by humans

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Pygmy Hog (Porcula salvania)
• Is the world's smallest wild pig.
It is one of the most useful
indicators of the management
status of grassland habitats.
• Distribution: Previously spread
across India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Now only found in Assam
(Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and
its buffer reserves).
• Threats: The main threats are
loss and degradation of
grasslands, dry-season burning,
livestock grazing and
afforestation of grasslands.
Hunting is also a threat.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Andaman White-toothed Shrew
• Distribution: It is endemic to the
South Andaman Island of India.
• They are usually active by
twilight or in the night.
• Threats: Habitat loss due to
selective logging, natural
disasters such as tsunami and
drastic weather change are
thought to contribute to current
population declines.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Namdapha Flying
Squirrel
• It is a unique (the only one in its genus)
flying squirrel that is restricted to a single
valley in the Namdapha N.P. (or) W.L.S. in
Arunachal Pradesh.
• Habitat/distribution: Found only in
Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal
Pradesh.
• Threats: Hunted for food.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Malabar Civet
• It is endemic to India and was first
reported from Travancore, Kerala.
• It is nocturnal in nature and found
exclusively in the Western Ghats.
• Threats: Deforestation and
commercial plantations are major
threats.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Sumatran Rhinoceros
• The Sumatran Rhinoceros
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is
the smallest and most
endangered of the five
rhinoceros species. It is now
thought to be regionally extinct
in India, though it once occurred
in the foothills of the Himalayas
and north-east India.
• The Javan Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros sondaicus) is also
believed to be extinct in India
and only a small number survive
in Java and Vietnam.
• Threat: Poaching, loss of habitat.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat
Kashmir stag/hangul
• It subspecies of Red Deer which is native to
India.
• Habitat: Dense riverine forests, high valleys,
and mountains of the Kashmir valley and
northern Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.
State animal of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Threat: habitat destruction, over-grazing by
domestic livestock, and poaching.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Gharials
• Once thrived in all the major
river systems of the Indian
Subcontinent. Today, they are
extinct in the Indus River, in the
Brahmaputra of Bhutan and
Bangladesh, and in the
Irrawaddy River. Their
distribution is now limited to
only 2% of their former range.
• fish-eating crocodile
• The gharial is one of three
crocodilians native to India, the
other two being the mugger
crocodile and the saltwater
crocodile

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

‘Endangered’ Mammals

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Red Panda
• Status: Moved from Vulnerable to
Endangered recently.
• Red panda is endemic to the temperate
forests of the Himalayas.
• Habitat: Sikkim and Assam, northern
Arunachal Pradesh.
• Threats: habitat loss and fragmentation,
poaching, and inbreeding depression.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Wild ass/ khur
(Equus hemionus
khur)
• Distribution: Mostly occurs in Rann
of Kutch region. Today, its last
refuge lies in the Indian Wild Ass
Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch.

• Threat – Diseases, habitat

degradation due to salt activities,

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Dhole/ Asiatic wild dog or Indian wild dog
• Distribution: They occur in most
of India south of the Ganges,
particularly in the Central Indian
Highlands and the Western and
Eastern Ghats of the southern
states.
• Threats: Habitat loss, depletion
of its prey base, competition
from other predators,
persecution and possibly
diseases from domestic and
feral dogs.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Eld's deer/
thamin or brow-
antlered deer
• Distribution: Keibul Lamjao
National Park (KLNP), Manipur.
• Threats: Overgrazing, loss of
grassland habitat.
• SANGAI

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Golden langur
(Trachypithecus
geei)
• Primate, is an Old World monkey
• Distribution - small region of
western Assam and in the
neighboring foothills of the Black
Mountains of Bhutan.
• Threats: Deforestation, human
encroachments.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Himalayan /
White-bellied
Musk Deer
• Habitat: Kashmir, Kumaon and
Sikkim.
• Threat: poaching & illegal trade for
its musk. Only males produce the
musk.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Hog deer
• Habitat: Terai region and
grasslands in northern India.
• Threats: Hunting, habitat loss,
habitat fragmentation, human
encroachments

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Lion-tailed macaque/ wanderoo (Macaca
silenus
• Endemic to the Western Ghats.
• Habitat: Evergreen forests in the
Western Ghats range.
• Threat: Habitat fragmentation
due to spread of agriculture and
tea, coffee, teak and cinchona,
construction of water reservoirs
and human settlements to
support such activities.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Chiru / Tibetian
Antelope
• Status – Moved from Vulnerable to
Endangered recently.
• Habitat : Tibet cold desert.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Oryx

Not in Red data book. This is shown

just for comparision with Chiru.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Nilgiri leaf
monkey
• Habitat: Hilly areas of Western
Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Nilgiri tahr
• Endemic to Western Ghats
• It is the state animal of Tamil
Nadu.
• Threats: Habitat loss, overgrazing,
illegal hunting.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat

Freshwater / river dolphin/ Ganges River
Dolphin
• Threats: Unintentional killing
through entanglement in fishing
gear; habitat loss and
degradation – water
development projects (barrages,
high dams, and embankments),
pollution – industrial waste and
pesticides, municipal sewage
discharge and noise from vessel
traffic.
• The Ganges river dolphin has
been recognized by the
government of India as its
National Aquatic Animal.

Geography by Rushikesh Dudhat