Wildlife Conservation Success Stories

India is home to enchanting wilderness with amazing biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna. The main predator and one of the most enchanting survives the country albeit in a critically endangered state. Likewise many other mammals are in trouble due to poaching, habitat destruction and hunting in the past.

Habitat destruction is one of the main reasons for near extinction of species but nevertheless the conservation ethos being strong the animals in danger are being brought back from the brink of extinction. Among the birds the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican are placed under severe threat of which the latter is in serious trouble. The main reason for the endangered status of these birds is the takeover of habitats for livestock rearing followed by the destruction of their nesting grounds. Efforts to exclude humans and their livestock have failed considerably and the conflict is endangering them further.

Like wise some other avian species are in trouble apart from general reduction in population of common species as well. Though a number of sanctuaries and even river and wetland sanctuaries have been created in the country some species like the bustard have not benefited much. Almost all tiger reserves in India are home to spectacular avian species and here they are doing well due to greater emphasis on protected and exclusion of humans from the core.

Due to past follies the status of many species of reptiles, birds and animals are under near threatened category but their recovery chances are much better. If protection continues and habitats are secured they all have a bright future and a high rate of survival. Some of the Indian conservation success stories have been remarkable.

It is animals like the tiger, swamp deer and rhino which are under the greatest threat. Habitat destruction and animal part trade are the major causes. Practice like the Chinese system of medicine of TCM encourages poachers to kill for animal parts especially the rhino and big cats. This is proving disastrous since the country has no conservation ethos like the Vedic culture in India.

There is greater concern for conservation of nature in India precisely due to the civilization ethos and practice of vegetarianism which is followed by at least thirty percent of the population. There is definitely a concern for preservation of all life forms in the country.

A number of conservation initiatives have been initiated especially the National Program to save the tiger. The program is called Project Tiger and it has been largely successful in increasing the population of big cat. This majestic predator seems to be emerging from brink of extinction. The effort to save the population of one horned rhinoceros has also been a great success with largest surviving population being in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve in the State of Assam.

Program to save the hard ground swamp deer has been the success story of Kanha National Park in Central India, followed by the success story lion conservation at Gir National Park in Gujarat. These are few examples of success stories of conservation in India.

The mega fauna like the tiger, lion and rhino also enhance tourism which is a major revenue earner. This money is plowed back into conservation and creating nature awareness in the country. Hence appreciable wildlife tourism in India is helping save many animals. More needs to be done in order to save life forms facing extinction and securing their habitats.

Uday writes often on Indian wildlife especially about the tigers. He works as a naturalist and is fond of travel. Uday also provides search engine optimization service and website contents in English.