India is a country full of natural resources and diversity of life that is unique in the whole of Asia. Its large megadiverse biogeographic regions of India have been recognized as world biodiversity hot spots. It houses a varied range of fauna and flora including many endangered species.
The main reason for this remarkable diversity of life forms is the great diversity of ecological conditions on this landmass.
It has been estimated that about 4-5 per cent of all known plant and animal species on the earth are found in India.
Some of the important reasons of the declining of wildlife are as follows:
- Industrial and technological advancement brought about a rapid increase in the exploitation of forest resources.
- More and more lands were cleared for agriculture, human settlement, roads, mining, reservoirs, etc.
- Pressure on forests mounted due to lopping for fodder and fuel wood and removal of small timber by the local people.
- Grazing by domestic cattle caused an adverse effect on wildlife and its habitat.
- Hunting was taken up as a sport by the elite and hundreds of wild animals were killed in a single hunt. Now commercial poaching is rampant.
