India is one of the most biodiverse regions and is home to a large variety of wildlife. It is one of the 17 megadiverse countries and includes four of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots. India has an estimated 92,873 species of fauna, roughly about 7.5% of the species living worldwide. The country is home to about 7.6% of mammal, 14.7% of amphibian, 6% of bird, and 6.2% of reptilian species.

The Bengal tiger and the Indian elephant are endangered species which are protected by Project Tiger and Project Elephant programmes run by Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India. India is home to 75% of the world's wild tiger population, and 60% of the Asian elephant population. The Asiatic lion is an endangered species found only in the Gir forest in India. Indian leopards are classified as vulnerable species and protected species, and the Indian wolf is an endangered subspecies of grey wolf, both of which are protected by law.

State-wise data The South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu are home to nearly 44% of the elephant, 35% of the tiger, and 31% of the leopard population in India, with Karnataka alone accounting for 22% of the elephants, 18% of the tigers and 14% of the leopards in India. Gujarat is the only state with wild Asiatic lion population in the world.

+Wildlife population by state State Tiger (2022) Elephant (2025) Leopard (2022) Lion (2025) Indian wolf (2022) Andaman and Nicobar 0 25 0 0 0 Andhra Pradesh 62 120 569 0 165 Arunachal Pradesh 29 617 42 0 0 Assam 182 4,159 74 0 0 Bihar 31 13 86 0 33 Chhattisgarh 19 451 722 0 320 Goa 2 0 77 0 0 Gujarat 0 0 na 891 494 Haryana 0 0 na 0 sp Himachal Pradesh 0 0 na 0 0 Jharkhand 5 217 51 0 82 Karnataka 524 6,013 1,879 0 72 Kerala 183 2,785 570 0 0 Madhya Pradesh 785 97 3,907 0 772 Maharashtra 444 63 1,985 0 396 Manipur 0 9 na 0 0 Meghalaya 0 677 na 0 0 Mizoram 0 16 na 0 0 Nagaland 0 252 na 0 0 Odisha 20 912 568 0 84 Rajasthan 88 0 721 0 532 Tamil Nadu 306 3,136 1,070 0 sp Telangana 21 57 297 0 156 Tripura 0 153 na 0 0 Uttar Pradesh 205 257 371 0 61 Uttarakhand 560 1,792 652 0 sp West Bengal 131 707 233 0 spTotal 3,682 22,446 13,874 891 3,191

See also

African cheetah translocation to India Project Dolphin Tiger reserves of India Wildlife of India

Notes

References