Top 10 Wild Animals Found in Western Ghats
Western Ghats also known as the Great Escarpment of India is home to wide ranges of wild animal and bird species. The rainforest of India runs parallel to the Arabian Sea along with west coast of India and form one of the Top 10 Hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world.
It is a world heritage sites and has number of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests, which are home to thousands of animal species, major fauna of Western Ghats includes Tiger, Leopard, Dhole as predators and Indian bison and deer are prey.
Bengal Tiger
The Bengal Tiger is the king of forest and the apex predator of Western Ghats, These hill ranges of Western Ghats are home to ten percent of India’s critically endangered tiger population live in the Tiger Reserve,Wildlife Sanctuary and National Parks.
Indian Leopard
The Indian Leopard one of the five big cats found in India, apart from Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard. Indian Leopards has status of near threatened due to habitat loss,heavy poaching for skins and human wildlife conflict.
Black Panther or more commonly called as black leopard is color variant of leopard, one of the species of larger cats found in India.
Indian Wild Dog
The Indian wild dog also called as Dhole is one of the most dangerous wild animal of Western Ghats region of India. Dhole are classed as endangered due to loss of habitat, depletion of prey and diseases from domestic dogs.
Indian Elephant
The Indian elephant are one of the wild animal of Western Ghats,who can be spotted easily, Elephant is worship by Indian people and play a major role in the life of Kerala culture.
Indian Bison ! Gaur
The gaur or Indian bison is the largest bovine in India, unfortunately listed as vulnerable due to loss of habitat and deforestation.
Lion Tailed Macaque
The endangered Lion-tailed macaque is endemic to the Western Ghats and an Old World monkey. Lion-tailed macaque along with Nilgiri langur and Gray langur are the few species of monkeys found in the Indian Subcontinent.
Nilgiri Langur
The Nilgiri langur (Semnopithecus johnii) is a Indian black langur native to the Nilgiri Hills of South India, Mostly occurs at elevations of (980–6,560 ft) in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Indian Giant Squirrel
The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel is one of the giant animal native to India, Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary is best place to spot this tree squirrel in Maharashtra.
Nilgiri Tahr
The Nilgiri tahrvis an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats – is the state animal of Tamil Nadu.
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is an Indian bear that feeds on fruits, ants and termites. This labiated bear is one of the species of bear found in India, brown and Asian black bears are others.
+ More Wildlife of Western Ghats Escarpment
There are few most elusive and endemic wild animals found in Western Ghats of India such as Nilgiri Marten, Indian Chevrotain, Indian Pangolin and fearless Honey Badger. Follow the Link for Details.
The biodiversity hotspots is also home to biggest number of Pit Viper Snakes and total of 124 endemic reptiles like Gecko, lizard and King Cobra.
Birds found in Western Ghats of India – There are at least 19 species of birds endemic to the Western Ghats including the Species of Hornbill, vulnerable Nilgiri wood-pigeon, Nilgiri flycatcher, and Nilgiri pipit.
Endemic and Endangered Wild Animals Found in Western Ghats of India also includes Species of Civet, Stripe Necked mongoose, Small Clawed Otter and Honey Badger.
