wildlife

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.

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.

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.

WILDLIFE IN INDIAThe 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.

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.

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

WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT, 1972This 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.

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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.

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.