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India's rich tropical forests have over 1200 species of birds and 350
mammals, preserved in different regions of the country within 59 National
Parks and 372 sanctuaries. The exotic areas are Ranthambore (Rajasthan),
Corbett (Uttar Pradesh), Gir (Gujarat), Kanha and Bandhavgarh (Madhya
Pradesh), Periyar (Kerala) and Kaziranga (Assam).
 India, lying within the Indomalaya ecozone, hosts significant biodiversity;
it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian, and
6.0% of flowering plant species. Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests,
also exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant
species are endemic. India's 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. The pipal fig
tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded the Gautama Buddha as he
sought enlightenment.
Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, to which
India originally belonged. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and
collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species.
However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the
extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Soon thereafter, mammals entered
India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the
emerging Himalaya. As a result, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals
and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of
amphibians. Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and
carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of
IUCN-designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic lion, the Bengal
tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction
from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.
In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife;
in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first
established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the
Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat;
further federal protections were promulgated in the 1980s. Along with over 500
wildlife sanctuaries, India now hosts 14 biosphere reserves, four of which are
part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; 25 wetlands are registered
under the Ramsar Convention.
Common name for wilderness in India is Jungle which was adopted by the British
colonialists to the English language. The word has been also made famous in
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
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