Ferocious, huge, dangerous yet beautiful are just a few words to describe the array of wild animals found in the Indian subcontinent. Here are just a few of them:

The Royal Bengal Tiger: From the cat family, but this beautiful beast is the largest among them and also the ferocious. Adorning a reddish yellow coat with black stripes, with an amazingly graceful built, makes it look absolutely royal. Can jump 30 feet in a single leap. India contains 60% of the world`s tigers; as recently as 1970 it was still legal to hunt them and to export skins. But unfortunately, three of the sub species of tigers are now extinct from human hunting.

The Indian Rhino: The Indian Rhinoceros, internationally known, as the Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros is a colossally built beast of truly mammoth proportions. The Indian rhinoceros ("rhino") has one horn, and it has skin with loose folds. The Indian rhino has been recorded from a number of habitats, including marshy lowland and reed beds; tall grass or bush with patches of savanna and occasional streams and swamps; thick tree and scrub forest; and dry, mixed forest. The Indian rhino mainly eats grass, reeds and twigs, feeding mostly in the morning and evening. It is usually solitary and spends long periods lying in water and wallowing in mud. The usual weight of an Indian Rhino is 2,000 kg. Guess that explains its habit of only eating and sleeping! All the Rhinos are vegetarian and Indian Rhinos mostly eat grass, fruits, leaves and crops.

The Indian Elephant: The Asian Elephant is considered as one of the largest elephants in the world and one of the largest land mammals on earth. Often referred to as the `Tuskers`, because of their long tusks. Nothing can compare the majestic build up of an elephant and when you ride on one it feels like you`ve gone back to the times of the royal. Elephants live in a matriarchal family group of related females called a herd. The oldest and often largest female in the herd leads them. Asian elephants stand eight to ten feet tall at the shoulder. Females weigh about 6,000 pounds and males can weigh up to 11,900 pounds! Indian Elephants are very sociable animals and march from forest to forest, seldom staying in one for more than a few days. However, few males in their youth prefer to lead a solitary life. When on the move, the females lead the herd, with the tuskers lagging behind, unless alerted to some approaching danger.

The Indian Lion: the Indian Lion, is generally 2.5 m to 2.9 m tall, and weighs between 200 to 250 kg. It has a majestic mane and a big tail tuft. Indian Lions move about in prides, comprising 2-3 male adults and more lionesses and cubs. They communicate with each other with a variety of grunts, meows, growls, moans and roars, and while female cubs stay with the pride, the males leave after they are three years old. They are the most ferocious carnivores but now they are rated as the most endangered specie.

The Indian White Tiger: Also called the White Bengal Tiger as they were found mostly in that region of India. They are fully grown at 2-3 years of age. Male reach weights of 200-230 kilograms and up to three meters in length. The females are 130-170 kilograms and up to 2.5 meters long. They have stripes all over their body. Their stripes are like fingerprints. No two are the same. The stripes are not only in the tigers fur, but are a pigmentation of the skin. They have a white spot on the back of their ears, which look like eyes. Tigers are mutually exclusive in their distribution. They rest during the day in the shade, and begin to hunt for food at dusk. They have keen eyesights and a sharp hearing that helps them stalk their prey.

There are numerous varieties of wild life in India. They range from monkeys and chimpanzee to some rare species like the snow leopard which is not even related to the Leopard family and the Black buck or the Kaala Hiran or the Antilope or the Chinkara , which is the exclusively an Indian animal and of course, the reason for it being endangered too. The golden Langur is the rarest of all monkeys in the world.