Endangered Species Flashcards
Critically endangered mammals
Pygmy hog is the smallest member of the pig family. It’s found only in the Kaziranga National Park and Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam.
The Malabar large spotted civet is endemic to western Ghats of India.
The Namdapha flying squirrel is endemic gliding squirrel found in the Namdapha National Park. They don’t actually fly but they glide from one tree to another.
Kashmir stag or hangul is found in dense riverine forests in high valleys and mountains in Kashmir and in the Champa district of Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir they are found in the Dachigam National Park.
The Sumatran rhinoceros is also known as the hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros. The smallest rhinoceros is declared extinct in Malaysia.
The Elvira rat is a species of rodent found only in the eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu.
The Jeypore Indian gecko was until recently considered extinct. It was rediscovered in 2010 in eastern Ghats of Orissa.
The Himalayan brown bear is sighted recently in Himachal Pradesh.
Andaman shrew or the Nicobar white-tailed shrew is endemic to the south Andaman island.
Critically endangered reptiles
The Ghariyal is one of the three crocodiles native to India. The other two are the Maggar crocodile, also called the Indian crocodile or marsh crocodile, mainly a freshwater species found in lakes, rivers, and marshes. It’s found in the Indian subcontinent. According to the IUCN, its status is vulnerable. And the saltwater crocodile, which is the largest of all living reptiles, is found throughout the rest of India. According to the IUCN, it’s of least concern. The highest number of Ghariyals is found in the river Chambal.
Among turtles, the red-crowned roofed turtle is found mostly in the national Chambal Sanctuary in UP, MP, and Rajasthan. The northern river terrapin is a species of riverine turtle found in the Sundarbans. Leatherback is the largest of living sea turtles, growing up to 2 meters and weighting up to 900 kilos. The leatherbacks can regulate their body temperature by combination of their size, insulation, and blood circulation mechanism. Its IUCN status is vulnerable. The Hawksbill sea turtle’s IUCN status is critically endangered. The green sea turtle’s IUCN status is endangered. The loggerhead sea turtle’s IUCN status is vulnerable. And the olive ridley turtle’s IUCN status is vulnerable.
Critically endangered birds
The Great Indian Bustard is found in India and adjoining regions of Pakistan. It’s a large bird with a horizontal body, long bare legs giving it an ostrich-like appearance. The bird is among the heaviest of flying birds. By hunting and loss of its habitat, which consists of large expanses of dry grassland and shrub.
White-bellied Heron is an extremely rare bird found only in a few sites in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Its major habitat is river with sand or gravel bars or inland lakes.
The Bengal Florican lives in an open, tall grassland habitat with scattered bushes, very well known for its mating dance.
The Himalayan Quail is a species known from only two locations in the West Himalayas. It is found in U.P. through Terai of Nepal to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It historically belonged to Bangladesh.
Siberian cranes of the Central Asian flock overwintered in wetlands in the Etawa and Manipuri districts of U.P.
The Pink-Headed Duck is a large living duck that was once found in the parts of the Gangetic plains of India, Maharashtra, Bangladesh and in the riverine swamps of Myanmar but appeared to be extinct.
The White-backed Vulture is an old world vulture, belonging to the family of eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks.
The Forest Owlet is endemic to the forests of Central India. It’s listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2018.
The Indian Vulture is an old world vulture native to India, Pakistan and Nepal. It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002.
Critically endangered fish
Humpbacked mahseer is a large freshwater fish. It’s also called the tiger of river. It’s found only in the cauvery river basin including kerala’s pambar, kabini and Bhavani rivers
Ganges shark is found in Ganges river and Brahmaputra river of Bangladesh and India
Pondicherry shark is found in the East Godavari river estuarine ecosystem region
Endangered fauna
Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant. The female Asian elephants usually lack tusks. It’s a national heritage animal.
The Bengal tiger is the most numerous tiger subspecies.
The lion-tailed macaque is endemic to the western Ghats of South India. The hair of the lion-tailed macaque is black. Silent Valley National Park in Kerala is home to the largest population of the lion-tailed macaque.
The Nilgiri tahr is endemic to the Nilgiri hills and the southern portion of western Ghats in states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It’s the state animal of Tamil Nadu. It’s the closest relative to sheep.
Red panda are a small arboreal mammal native to eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. They feed mainly on bamboo but are omnivorous. Like the giant panda they cannot digest cellulose so they must consume a large volume of bamboo to survive.
Ganga River Dolphins are found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan and split into two subspecies, Ganges River Dolphin and Indus River Dolphin. Ganges River Dolphin are recognized as the national aquatic animal with nearly 50% of the population found in Bihar. The Ganga River Dolphin is essentially blind and hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds which bounces off of fish and other prey.
The Asiatic Lion survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in Gujarat.
The Indian Pangolin, also called the Thick-Tailed Pangolin and Scaly Anteater, is a Pangolin native to the Indian subcontinent.
The Tibetan Antelope or Chiru is a medium-sized bovine native to the northeastern Tibetan Plateau while some scatter across India and Bhutan.
The wild water buffalo inhabiting India, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, and Cambodia.
The Golden Langur also is the old world monkey found in a small region of western Assam.
The Hoolock Gibbons native to eastern Bangladesh, northeast India, Myanmar, and the southwest China.
Thr Dugong is a strictly marine herbivorous mammal. Its closest modern relative is the Stellar Sea Cow which was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. The largest population is in Red Sea followed by Persian Gulf. Its isolated breeding population exists in the Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch. It is the only population remaining in western India. It’s also found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Olive Ridley Turtles are medium-sized species of sea turtles found in warm and tropical waters, living in tropical and warm waters of Pacific and Indian oceans from India, Arabia, Japan, Micronesia, Australia, and New Zealand. They’re best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers termed arribades.
White-bellied musk deer occur in Himalayan part of Nepal and Bhutan and in northern India including Sikkim. It is the state animal of Uttarakhand.
Vulnerable fauna
The Sarus crane is the tallest flying bird in the world. It is the state bird of UP.
The Indian star tortoise is a threatened species of tortoise found in dry areas and shrub forests in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Clouded Leopard is also called the Mainland Clouded Leopard, which is a wild cat inhabiting the dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas to the mainland of Southeast Asia and into South China. In India, it inhabits in Sikkim, northern West Bengal, Meghalaya, subtropical forests, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Snow Leopard, also called the Ounce, is a field in the genus Panthera native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. In India, their geographical range encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas.
The Sloth Bear is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. A significant part of the global sloth bear population is found in India, namely in the western Ghats, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and northeast India.
The Gaur, also known as the Indian Bison, is a bovine native to the south and southeast Asia. In India, they are found in Nagarhole, Bandipur, Masinagudi National Park, and BR Hills.
The Great Indian Hornbill is also called the Concave Casqued Hornbill, the Great Indian Hornbill, or the Great Pied Hornbill. It is one of the larger members of the Hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia.
The King Cobra is a species of venomous elapid snake endemic to the jungles of southern and southeast Asia. They are found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan, and are a member of the Big Four species that are responsible for the most snake bite cases in India.
The Barra Singha, also called the Swamp Deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. Populations in northern and central India are fragmented, and the two isolated populations inhabit in southwestern Nepal.
Wedgefish is a shallow water coastal species found in the northern Indian Ocean and northwestern Pacific Ocean. It is listed as most imperiled marine fish families in the world, the main drivers of decline, loss of free-flowing rivers, and increasing agricultural and urban population. IUCN status lists it as vulnerable. India proposed to include wedgefish in the Appendix 2 of CITES.
Least concerned species
The Indian Roofed Turtle is found in the major rivers of South Asia. It is a common pet in the Indian subcontinent.
Black Buck or Indian Antelope is native to India and Nepal. It inhabits grassy plains and lively forested areas with perennial water sources.
The Great White Pelican also known as the Eastern White Pelican or Rosy Pelican is a bird in the pelican family. This species migrates to India in large numbers during the winters and settles down mainly in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
The Amur Falcon is a small raptor of the falcon family. It breeds in southeastern Siberia and northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in southern and east Africa.
The Red Fox is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order of carnivores. In India, it is seen along the Himalayan range and in the semi-arid regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The Golden Eagle is a bird of prey living in the northern hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagles. It is a resident of the Indian subcontinent and breeds in Balochistan and in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan.
The Himalayan Ibex, also called Siberian Ibex, is a species of wild goat distributed in diverse habitats. In India, the Ibex is distributed mainly in the trans-Himalayan ranges of the Union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The Greater Flamingo is the most widespread and largest species of the Flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and the southern Europe. The Greater Flamingo is the state bird of the Indian state of Gujarat.
The Saltwater Crocodile is a crocodilian native in the saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands. It is found from the Indian East Coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia.
Important facts
Butterfly constitutes 65% of Indian fauna
The largest butterfly in India is the southern bird wing
The smallest butterfly in India is the grass jewel
The striking swallowtail butterfly is endemic to peninsular India
Assam is the home to around 50% of India’s butterflies species
Maharashtra is the first state to have a state butterfly, the blue mormon. It is the second largest butterfly in India
The only a found in India is the hoolock gibbon
Sambar is the largest of all Indian deer
The clouded leopard is the smallest of world’s big cats
DNA of chimpanzees is most similar to that of homo sapiens
Hornbills are considered to be the farmers of the forest
Tusks are found in elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, boar, sperm whale and killer whale
Marine fishes of India are eels, hilsa and sardina.
Rohu is commonly found in rivers and freshwater lakes in and around South Asia and South East Asia
Tuna fishes have the ability to maintain temperature of the bodies above that of the surrounding water
The Western coast contributes 75% to the total fish catch and the eastern coast only 25%.
Important flora
Red Sanders is an endemic tree of South India. It’s found in the dry deciduous forest. Around 90% of Red Sanders are found in the Palakonda and Sesha-Chalam hills. It is used in the making of musical instruments, sculptures, furnitures, and medicines. The IUCN status for it is Near Threatened from Earlier Endangered. It is internationally protected under the CITES.
Gloriosa Superba is a flower having medicinal properties. It is the state flower of Tamil Nadu. Its IUCN status is Endangered.
Agarwood, which produces one of the world’s most valid woods, is found in the northeast India. It has been moved from vulnerable to critically endangered. Due to logging and deforestation caused by population, it has declined by more than 80% over the last 150 years. It is used in incense, perfume, traditional medicine, and small carvings.
Neelakurinji is a shrub found in Shola forests of western Ghats in South India. It blossoms every once in 12 years. The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu use it as reference to calculate their age.
The Indian Rosewood is a deciduous tree native to Indian subcontinent, also grown in Nigeria, Kenya, Vietnam, Philippines, and other parts of the tropical Africa. It is used for making furniture, plywood, and decorative wood products. Its IUCN status is Vulnerable. India proposed to remove rosewood from the appendix 2 of CITES.
