great wildlife

2. WILDLIFE Wildlife traditionally refers to non-domesticated
animal species, but has come to include all plants, fungi and
other organisms which grow or live wild in an area without
being introduced by humans. Domesticating wild plant and
animal species for human benefit has occurred many times
all over the planet, and has a major impact on the
environment, both positive and negative.
 Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, forests, rain
forests, plains, grasslands, and other areas including the
most developed urban sites, all have distinct forms of
wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to
animals that are untouched by human factors, most
scientists agree that wildlife around is affected by human
activities.

3. FOOD, PETS, AND TRADITIONAL MEDICINES
Anthropologists believe that the Stone Age people
and hunter-gatherers relied on wildlife, both plants and
animals, for their food. In fact, some species may have
been hunted to extinction by early human hunters. Today,
hunting, fishing, and gathering wildlife is still a significant
food source in some parts of the world. In other areas,
hunting and non-commercial fishing are mainly seen as
a sport or recreation, with the edible meat as mostly a side
benefit. Meat sourced from wildlife that is not traditionally
regarded as game is known as bush meat. The increasing
demand for wildlife as a source of traditional food in East
Asia is decimating populations
of sharks, primates, pangolins and other animals, which
they believe have aphrodisiac properties.

4. DESTRUCTION
 This subsection focuses on anthropogenic forms of wildlife
destruction.
 Exploitation of wild populations has been a characteristic of
modern man since our exodus from Africa 130,000 – 70,000
years ago. The rate of extinctions of entire species of plants and
animals across the planet has been so high in the last few
hundred years it is widely believed that we are in the sixth great
extinction event on this planet; the Holocene Mass Extinction.
 Destruction of wildlife does not always lead to an extinction of the
species in question, however, the dramatic loss of entire species
across Earth dominates any review of wildlife destruction as
extinction is the level of damage to a wild population from which
there is no return.
 The four most general reasons that lead to destruction of wildlife
include overkill, habitat destruction and fragmentation, impact of
introduced species and chains of extinction.

5. WILDLIFE IN INDIA
The wildlife in India comprises a mix of species of different types of
organisms. Apart from a handful of the major farm animals such as
cows, buffaloes, goats, poultry and sheep, India has an amazingly
wide variety of animals native to the country. It is home
to Tigers, Lions,
Leopards, Pythons, Wolves, Foxes, Bears, Crocodiles, Rhinoceroses,
Camels, Wild dogs,
Monkeys, Snakes, Antelope species, Deer species, varieties
of bison and not to mention the mighty Asian elephant. The region's
rich and diverse wildlife is preserved in 89 national parks, 18 Bio
reserves and 400+ wildlife sanctuaries across the country. India has
some of the most biodiversity regions of the world and hosts three of
the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots – or treasure-houses – that is the
Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas and Indo- Burma. Since India
is home to a number of rare and threatened animal species, wildlife
management in the country is essential to preserve these species.
According to one study, India along with 17 mega diverse countries is
home to about 60-70 % of the world's biodiversity.

6. WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES OF INDIA
 India has 515 <Moe Website> animal sanctuaries, referred to
as Wildlife sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV Protected Area).
Among these, the 41 Tiger Reserves are governed by Project
Tiger, and are of special significance in the conservation of
the tiger. Some wildlife sanctuaries are specifically named Bird
Sanctuary, e.g. Keoladeo National Park before attaining
National Park status. Many National Parks were initially Wildlife
Sanctuaries.
 Wildlife sanctuaries are of national importance to conservation,
usually due to some flagship faunal species, are
named National Wildlife Sanctuary, like the tri-state National
Chambal (Gavial) Wildlife Sanctuary for conserving the gavial.

7. LIST OF SOME WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES IN INDIA
Year Name State
Area
(km²)
1987
Spike Island Wildlife
Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
211.7
1985
Interview Island Wildlife
Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
133
1987
Landfall Island Wildlife
Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
29.48
1983
Lohabarrack Salt Water
Crocodile Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
22.21
1987
Defense Island Wildlife
Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
10.49
1987
Cinque Island Wildlife
Sanctuary
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
9.51

8. WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT, 1972
This article is about the Government of India's wildlife-protection
legislation in 1972. For legislation adopted by the District of
Columbia in 2010, see Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.
 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Indian legislation
enacted by the Parliament of India for protection of plants and
animal species. Before 1972, India only had five
designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act
established schedules of protected plant and animal species;
hunting or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.

9. CONT…
The Act provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and
plants; and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or
incidental thereto. It extends to the whole of India, except the
State of Jammu and Kashmir which has its own wildlife act. It
has six schedules which give varying degrees of
protection. Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute
protection - offences under these are prescribed the highest
penalties. Species listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV are
also protected, but the penalties are much lower. Schedule
V includes the animals which may be hunted. The plants in
Schedule VI are prohibited from cultivation and planting. The
hunting to the Enforcement authorities have the power to
compound offences under this Schedule (i.e. they impose fines
on the offenders). Up to April 2010 there have been 16
convictions under this act relating to the death of tigers.

10. WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA
 The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous institution
under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
 WII carries out wildlife research in areas of study like Biodiversity,
Endangered Species, Wildlife Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife
Forensics, Spatial Modeling, Ecodevelopment, and Climate Change.
WII has a research facility which includes Forensics, Remote Sensing
and GIS, Laboratory, Herbarium, and an Electronic Library.[1] The
founder was Mr.V.B.Saharia while the first Director was Mr. H. S. Pan
war who remained the director from 1985 to 1994. Trained personnel
from WII have contributed in studying and protecting wildlife in India.
WII has also popularized wildlife studies and careers.
 The institute is based in Defraud, India. It is located in Chandrabani,
which is close to the southern forests of Defraud.
 The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education also runs
the Forest Research Institute and the Indian Institute of Forest
Management.