Common Animal species
Common Animal species Mammals:
The common deer species found in India include
the sambar, chital, barasingha and barking deer.
Sambar live in small family parties especially in
hilly forested areas and feed mainly on shrubs
and leaves of low branches. They are dark brown
in colour and have large thick antlers, each having
3 branches. Chital or spotted deer live in
large herds in forest clearings where they graze
on the grass. They have a rust brown body with
white spots which camouflages them in the forest.
Each antler has three branches called tines
The rare Hangul deer is found only in Kashmir.
It has a magnificent spread of antlers with 6
branches on each antler. The Barasingha, or
swamp deer, has wide hoofs that enable this
beautiful animal to live in boggy areas of the
Terai. Each antler has 6 or more branches. The
tiny barking deer lives in many forest areas all
over India. It has two ridges on its face and a
short antler with only 2 branches. Its call sounds
like the bark of a dog.
The blackbuck is the only true antelope found
in India. It lives in large herds. The males are
black on top and cream below and have beautiful
spiral horns that form a ‘V’ shape. The
chinkara, also known as the Indian gazelle, is
a smaller animal and is pale brown in colour it
has beautiful curved horns. The rare
Chausingha, or four horned antelope, is the
only animal in the world that has four horns.
The nilgai is the largest of the dryland herbivores.
The males are blue-gray. Nilgai have white
markings on the legs and head. They have short
strong spike-like horns.
A very special rare species is the Indian wild ass, endemic to the Little Rann of Kutch. Himalayan pastures support several species of wild goats and sheep, many of them restricted to the region, like the goral and the Himalayan tahr. A single species, the Nilgiri tahr is found in the Nilgiri and Annamalai hills in south India. The rhinocerous is now restricted to Assam but was once found throughout the Gangetic plains. The wild buffalo is now also restricted to the Terai. The elephant is distributed in the Northeastern and Southern States. It is threatened by habitat loss and poaching for ivory. Gaur is found in patches in several well-wooded parts of India. The best known predator of our forests is the tiger. Its gold and black stripes hide it perfectly in the forest undergrowth. It preys on herbivores such as sambar or chital or less frequently on domestic animals. The tiger kills only three or four times a month. Its numbers have declined due to poaching for its superb skin, and for the supposed magical value of its teeth, claws and whiskers. In the recent past it has been extensively killed for the supposed medicinal properties of its bones that are used in Chinese medicine.
The Asiatic lion is now found only in the Gir forests of Gujarat. The leopard is more adaptable than the tiger and lives both in thick forests and degraded forest areas. Its beautiful ring like markings camouflage it so perfectly that its prey cannot see its stealthy approach. The smaller jungle cat, which is a light brown animal and the leopard cat, which is a little bigger than a domestic cat, are very rare. The most typical predator of the HImalayas is the snow leopard, which is very rare and poached for its beautiful skin which is pale grey with dark grey ring-like markings. The wolf, jackal, fox and the wild dog or ‘dhole’ form a group called canids. Another threatened predator is the Himalayan wolf. The wolves are now highly threatened as they have become increasingly dependent on shepherd’s flocks. Thus shepherds constantly find ways to kill the wolves.
One of the common monkey species of the forest is the bonnet macaque, which has a red face, a very long tail and a whorl of hair on the scalp which looks like a cap. Our other common monkey is the rhesus macaque, which is smaller and has a shorter tail than the bonnet. A rare macaque is the lion-tailed macaque found only in a few forests of the southern Western Ghats and Annamalai ranges. It is black in colour, has long hair, a grey mane and a tassel at the end of its tail that looks like a lion’s tail. The common langur has a black face and is known as the Hanuman monkey. The rare golden langur, is golden yellow in colour and lives along the banks of the Manas River in Assam. The capped langur is an uncommon species of Northeast India. The rare black nilgiri langur lives in the southern Western Ghats, Nilgiris and Annamalais.
A very special rare species is the Indian wild ass, endemic to the Little Rann of Kutch. Himalayan pastures support several species of wild goats and sheep, many of them restricted to the region, like the goral and the Himalayan tahr. A single species, the Nilgiri tahr is found in the Nilgiri and Annamalai hills in south India. The rhinocerous is now restricted to Assam but was once found throughout the Gangetic plains. The wild buffalo is now also restricted to the Terai. The elephant is distributed in the Northeastern and Southern States. It is threatened by habitat loss and poaching for ivory. Gaur is found in patches in several well-wooded parts of India. The best known predator of our forests is the tiger. Its gold and black stripes hide it perfectly in the forest undergrowth. It preys on herbivores such as sambar or chital or less frequently on domestic animals. The tiger kills only three or four times a month. Its numbers have declined due to poaching for its superb skin, and for the supposed magical value of its teeth, claws and whiskers. In the recent past it has been extensively killed for the supposed medicinal properties of its bones that are used in Chinese medicine.
The Asiatic lion is now found only in the Gir forests of Gujarat. The leopard is more adaptable than the tiger and lives both in thick forests and degraded forest areas. Its beautiful ring like markings camouflage it so perfectly that its prey cannot see its stealthy approach. The smaller jungle cat, which is a light brown animal and the leopard cat, which is a little bigger than a domestic cat, are very rare. The most typical predator of the HImalayas is the snow leopard, which is very rare and poached for its beautiful skin which is pale grey with dark grey ring-like markings. The wolf, jackal, fox and the wild dog or ‘dhole’ form a group called canids. Another threatened predator is the Himalayan wolf. The wolves are now highly threatened as they have become increasingly dependent on shepherd’s flocks. Thus shepherds constantly find ways to kill the wolves.
One of the common monkey species of the forest is the bonnet macaque, which has a red face, a very long tail and a whorl of hair on the scalp which looks like a cap. Our other common monkey is the rhesus macaque, which is smaller and has a shorter tail than the bonnet. A rare macaque is the lion-tailed macaque found only in a few forests of the southern Western Ghats and Annamalai ranges. It is black in colour, has long hair, a grey mane and a tassel at the end of its tail that looks like a lion’s tail. The common langur has a black face and is known as the Hanuman monkey. The rare golden langur, is golden yellow in colour and lives along the banks of the Manas River in Assam. The capped langur is an uncommon species of Northeast India. The rare black nilgiri langur lives in the southern Western Ghats, Nilgiris and Annamalais.
There are over 1200 bird species found in India
in different habitats. Most of our forest birds
are specially adapted to life in certain forest
types. Some Himalayan species however can alsobe seen in the Western
Ghats. There are several
species of Hornbills that
live on fruit. They have
heavy curved beaks with a
projection on top.
Frugivores such as parakeets,
barbets and bulbuls
live on fruit and are
often seen eating Ficus
fruits such as those of banyan and peepal.
Insectivorous birds of many species live on forest
insects. They include various species of flycatchers,
bee-eaters, and others. The male
paradise flycatcher is a small beautiful white bird
with a black head and two long white trailing
tail feathers. The female is brown and does not
have the long tail feathers. There are several
eagles, falcons and kites many of which are now
endangered.
Grasslands support many species of birds. The
most threatened species is the Great Indian
bustard, a large, brown stately bird with long
legs which struts about through grasslands look
ing for locusts and grasshoppers. Another rare
group of threatened birds
are the floricans.
There are
many species of quails,
partridges, larks, munias
and other grain eating birds
that are adapted to grasslands
There are several species of
aquatic birds such as waders,
gulls and terns, which live
along the seashore and go out
fishing many kilometers to the
sea. Many of these birds have
lost their coastal habitats due
to pollution. Aquatic birds in
freshwater are those with long legs and are
known as waders such as stilts and sandpipers.
The other group form birds that swim on
water such as several species of ducks and
geese.
There are many species of
spectacular large birds associated
with water or
marshy areas. These include
different species of
storks, cranes, spoonbills,
flamingo and pelicans.
Many aquatic species
are migrants. They breed
in Northern Europe or Siberia and come to India
in thousands during winter.
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