Indian animals comprise a varied and diverse category. India is a home of thousands of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. The varied climate and landscape of this country make this land ideal for the wildlife. The rivers and the dense forests of the India add to the ecosystem, encouraging further growth of animals in India. Apart from the wild animals in India, this country is also home to various household animals, cattle being the most important animal for the Indian population. Also, hens, chickens, pigs, camels, horses form an important part in various regions of India. Animals like elephants, which were born in the wild, are sometimes caught by men and tamed. For the protection of this great national treasure, there are a number of wildlife sanctuaries and protection laws.

Indian Wild Animals
India has one of the world`s largest ranges of species. From Northern Himalayan Mountains to far Southern Lakshwadeep`s corals and from Kutch`s Desert in Western India to Eastern India`s rain forests, there are plenty of the rarest of rare species that are found only in India. Among the many wild animals found in the country are tigers, lions, elephant, deer, leopards, rhinoceros, Black bear, monkeys, pandas, hyena, wild boar and many more. However, due to over population and other factors, India`s natural wealth is being wasted. Some of the species are on the brink of extinction and some of them are critically endangered.

Indian tiger: Tiger is the largest living member of the big cat family. Its solid body structure truly gives it a royal look. India had over forty thousand tigers in the beginning of the 20th century. Today the statistics is much lower. Some Indian species are...

Indian lion: Lion is India`s national animal. The Indian lion is another name of the Asiatic lion. This animal played a major role in the symbols and folklore of Indian culture for over 2000 years. The Asiatic lion was once widespread throughout Southwest Asia. At present day this species can only be found in a single location in the wild, the Gir forest in India.

Indian elephant: Indian elephant is one among the three subspecies of the Asiatic elephant. The Indian elephants are tamed by people and are working for over 4000 years. There are 40000 Indian elephants left throughout South Asia.

Indian rhinoceros: Today there are 3000 India rhinos in the wild life. Unlike others Indian Rhinos have only one horn.

Indian deer: The Indian Deer is a member of the Cervidae family and is the most beautiful animal species on earth.

Cobra: This animal is from reptile family. King Cobra is India`s most venomous snake. It has enough poison in one bite to kill 20 people. This snake is worshipped in India especially in the festival of Nagpanchami.

Peacock: Peacock is India`s national bird. It is mostly found in Indian dry forests usually including one male and several female.

Endangered Wild Animals
An endangered species is a population of an organism, which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either
(a) Few in number or
(b) Threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.

The high rate at which species have become extinct within the last 150 years is a cause of concern. While species have evolved and become extinct on a regular basis for the last several hundred million years, recent rates of extinction are many times higher than the typical historical values. This is a great cause of concern as it not only leads to the loss of a species as a biological entity, but also affects human life in that it leads to the destabilization of the ecosystem. Ivory Poaching of the Asian Elephant, the critically endangered Siberian Tiger, the golden leopard, the lion-tailed macaque and the Royal Bengal tiger are some of the endangered species of India.

To protect this national treasure India introduced a number of wildlife sanctuaries.

Pet Animals
A pet is an animal kept for companionship and enjoyment, as opposed to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic reasons. Some of the common pet animals are dogs, cats, rabbits etc.

There has been in the recent years an increasing threat to the wildlife of the country mainly due to human encroachment. Consequently, a number of national parks, sanctuaries and protected areas have been set up for the protection of these animals.