Top 10 Wild Animals of India

India is a hub to some of the most popular wild animals in the country. When it comes to flora and fauna, India is considered to be a prosperous country.

About 25% of the Indian land belongs to the wild and the dense forests. India has been able to build a total of approximately 400 national parks and sanctuaries which act as a habitat to the wild animals where they are protected from being killed illegally to sell their body parts.

Wild Animals of India

The Bengal Tiger

The Bengal tiger is considered to be one of the natives of the Indian subcontinents. The Royal Bengal tiger is supposed to be the national animal of the country.

As the name suggests, the Bengal Tiger is mostly found in the Bengal region only. Since the year 2012, The Bengal Tiger Is termed to be endangered as the number of its existence is even below 1000 currently.

The significant decline of the Bengal Tiger is due to illegal trading of all its body parts and poaching of the skin.

Kanha National Park is the place where the most significant number of Bengal Tigers can be found.

The Indian Elephant

Elephants are known to be loved immensely by the Indians. The Indian Elephants are also known to have the largest population amongst the many wild animals in the country.

Not only that, but Elephants are also very groomed species who don’t react immediately, unlike other wild animals. Amongst the many wild animals, Elephants are the calmest creatures.

However, over the years, the population of Elephants has decreased due to various reasons. Elephants are found all over India, in multiple places such as West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, etc.

The Indian Rhinoceros

Also known as ‘One Horned Rhinoceros’, is one of the rarest wild animals in the country. The Indian Rhinoceros is mainly found in the northeast part of the country, and a few of them can also be spotted in Nepal.

The Indian Rhinoceros has their own set of flaws such as they are not blessed with the best eyesight in the world and suffer from poor vision, coupling with that is the number of enemies this species has is incredible.

Due to its poor eyesight and the large pool of enemies, it ends up hiding in secretive places such as the foothills of the mountains.

Asiatic Lion

Also known as The Indian Lion or the Persian Lion, is a common name in Indian households. In the country, there used to be a time when the Asiatic Lions used to roam around freely from north-eastern parts of the country to the central parts of the country without any fear.

However, things have changed now. The Asiatic Lions are now stuck to only Gir Forests in India where they are found in bulk. The Indian Lions are shown on the Indian National Emblem which strongly depictures strength and power.

The Indian Leopard

The Leopards are considered to be one of the chicest and stylish wild animals that exist in the country.

Amongst the five big cats, the Indian Leopard is the largest. Leopard, the name has been derived from a mix of two languages Greek and Latin, where Leo meant Lion and Pard meant Panther.

Right in 2008, by IUCN, The Indian Leopard was considered to be endangered as its population drastically declined due to illegal trading and poaching.

The Indian Black Bear

Also known as ‘Moon Bear of India’ or ‘Himalayan Black Bear’, is a famous animal in the world who is also known to be super aggressive.

Over the years, The Indian Black Bears have been known to kill and eat tons and tons of not only other animals but humans as well.

Their entire presence is quite haunting as they are full dark black, and have a very aggressive looking mouth.

The average weight of the male black bear is around is anything between 220 to 480 pounds, while the importance of the female black bear is around is roughly between 120 to 275 pounds.

The Indian Black bears are popularly found near the Himalayas in India.

The Wild Water Buffalo

Also known as the Indian Wild Buffalo or the Asiatic Buffalo is a trendy wild animal in both India and Nepal and a few more Asian countries.

Amongst the category of wild animals, The Wild Water Buffalo is considered to be the second-largest wild animal.

The primary habitat of the species is the very famous Kaziranga National Park, which is in Assam. While comparing with the domestic buffalos, the Wild buffalos are way more in numbers.

The Indian Wild Ass

Also known as Ghudhkur, it is found in scarce places in the country. In India, its primary habitat is in the state of Gujrat.

In 2016 by the IUCN, The Indian Wild Ass was treated to be endangered. The average age of the Indian Wild Ass is roughly between 20-25 years.

The species has a very sandy coat which has comes in different shades such as fawn, reddish grey, dark mane, etc.

The Indian Bison

Amongst all the wild animals, the Indian Bison is considered to be the strongest and the most dominant species.

It is popularly called as ‘Gaur’ and is considered to be an endangered species. It is found in several wildlife sanctuaries, the most important one being Bandhavgarh and Kanha.

The Blue Bull

Also known as Blue Bull Nilgai, is one of the very popularly found wild animals in the country. The Indian Blue Bull is mainly found in the north-eastern states of the country.

It is also Asia’s most significant and the most abundant antelope which has an average weight of anything which ranges between 100 to 288 kgs. In its physicality, The Blue Bull looks like an Ox and has a lifespan of around 21 years.