Top 10 Wild Animals of India – Wildlife

Indian wild forest and national parks are home to many species of wild animals,birds and reptiles. More than 25% land of Indian states are covered with dense forest and provide shelter to the wildlife.

List of big wild animals found in India are The Royal Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Elephant, Great Indian Rhino, The Asiatic Lion, Indian Leopard, Indian giant squirrel, Indian wild Bore, Indian wild Ass, Black Buck, and Nilgai. India also boasts of a large number of reptiles that include venomous species of snakes and giant lizards.

भारत मे पाए जाने वाले 50 जंगली जानवर

Who is the Biggest Animal in India?

The Great Indian Elephant is the biggest and tallest herbivore wild animal in India, followed by Gaur, Nilgai and wild water buffalo.

1. Bengal Tiger

Name – Panthera tigris tigris
Family – Felidae
Total Population – 3,682 in 2022
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Endangered

The Bengal tiger is the second largest species of wild cat after the Siberian tiger and also the national animal of India. Panthera tigris tigris listed as endangered mammal and there are 3,890 individuals tigers life in the wild forest of India.

2. Indian Elephant

Name – Elephas maximus indicus
Family – Elephantidae
Total Population – 31,368
Kingdom – Mainland Asia
Conservation Status – Endangered

Elephants are classified as megaherbivores and has been listed as endangered, threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. The largest population of Asiatic Elephant are found in South India, inhabits grasslands, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests.

3. Indian Rhinoceros

Name – Rhinoceros unicornis
Family – Rhinocerotidae
Total Population – 3,555
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Vulnerable

Indian Rhinoceros are also called great Indian rhinoceros are native to the Indian subcontinent, primarily found in north-eastern states of India. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park shelters the highest density of Indian rhinos in the world.

4. Asiatic Lion

Name – Panthera leo persica
Family – Felidae
Total Population – 674 as per the 2020 census.
Kingdom – India, Gujarat.
Conservation Status – Endangered

Indian Lions are one of the five big cats found in India and one of the largest of Indian cat, lives as a single population in Gujarat. The habitat area of Asiatic lion is very small, they survives today only in the Gir National park of Gujarat and only about 411 lions are left in the wild forest of Junagarh.

5. Indian Leopard

Name – Panthera pardus fusca
Family – Felidae
Total Population – 14,000
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Vulnerable

Indian Leopards are known for their ability of climbing the tress and are powerful swimmers. The Leopards share habitat with other predators but they are also threatened by loss of habitat and fragmentation.

6. Sloth Bear

Name – Melursus ursinus
Family – Ursidae
Total Population – 20,000
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Vulnerable

Indian sloth bears are one of the 4 species of bears found in India and distinguished from Asian black bears by their lankier builds. Sloth bears species are native to the Indian subcontinent and listed as vulnerable.

7. Wild Water Buffalo

Name – Bubalus arnee
Family – Bovidae
Total Population – 4,000
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Endangered

The wild water buffalo is the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo and the second largest wild bovid found in Assam. Wild water buffalo are endangered and live only in a small number of protected areas stretching across Nepal and Bhutan.

8. Ghudkhur – Indian Wild Ass

Name – Equus hemionus khur
Family – Equidae
Total Population – 4,800
Kingdom – India
Conservation Status – Near Threatened

Indian Wild Ass also called Khur are only found in the dry land of Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. The Indian Wild Ass Sanctuaryis home to large number of Indian wild ass and the population was estimated at 4,451 individuals.

9. Gaur – Indian Bison

Name – Bos gaurus
Family – Bovidae
Total Population – 22,000
Kingdom – India
Conservation Status – Vulnerable

The Indian Bison commonly known as Gaur is the largest extant bovine and one of the most strong species of bovine, native to the Indian-Subcontinent.  The Gaur is the tallest of wild cattle species and has been listed as vulnerable.

10. Nilgai – Blue Bull

Name – Boselaphus tragocamelus
Family – Bovidae
Total Population – 1 million
Kingdom – Indian Subcontinent
Conservation Status – Least Concern

Nilgai or blue bull is the biggest Asian antelope and one of the most commonly seen species of wild animals in India. Nilgai is a diurnal creature found inhabiting Indian grasslands their range covers national park plains and low hills with shrubs of India.

Adding – 20 Wild Animals of Incredible India !

Here is the list of wildlife and wild animals of India, you should know and some of these beautiful creatures are unfortunately part of endangered animals in India.

Blackbuck – काला हिरण

Blackbuck is the most beautiful Indian antelope and sole extant member of the genus Antilope. The blackbuck is a diurnal antelope inhabits grassy plains and slightly forested areas.

Chinkara – चिंकारा

Red Panda

Red Panda has been classified as endangered and native to the eastern Himalayas. The red panda feeds mainly on bamboo and protected by national laws in their of countries.

King Cobra

King Cobra is the longest of all the living venomous snake in the world and feeds exclusively on other snakes including venomous snake species and own cobra species. The king cobra is distributed across the Indian subcontinent, mostly found in Karnataka and Kerala.

Indian Rock Python – अजगर

Indian Rock Python is a large nonvenomous species of python found in Indian Subcontinent. Pythons are strict carnivores and feed on other small mammals, birds and reptiles, Burmese python and Reticulated python are other species of Python found in India.

Mugger Crocodile – मगर

Mugger crocodile is the most common species of Crocodile found in India, mostly inhabits rivers,freshwater lakes and swamps. The mugger is the largest and most skilled predator of Indian river systems,Gharial and the saltwater crocodile are two other species of Crocodile found in India.

Gharial – घड़ियाल

Gharial is the longest of all living crocodilians found in the Indian Subcontinent. This fish eating crocodile inhabited river systems of Son River,Mahanadi in Satkosia Gorge,Katarniaghat and Chambal River.

Bengal Monitor

Indian Monitor is one of the largest species of monitor lizard, found widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent. This large lizard are hunt on the ground and may be more arboreal, Asian water monitor lizard is another species found in India.

Black Panther

Black Panther is the black color variant of Indian Leopard, mostly found in the Western Ghats region.

Where are black panthers found in India ?

Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary are best places to spot Black Panther in India.

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard is a large wild mountain cat, inhabit alpine and subalpine zones of the Himalayas. The snow leopard distributed from the states of Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh.

Clouded Leopard

Clouded Leopard is a medium size wild cat species, found mostly in the Himalayan foothills of north east Indian states. The clouded leopard is the smallest of the big cats found in India and best trees climber.

Spotted Deer – चीतल

Chital or Spotted Deer is one of the most common species of deer found in the Indian subcontinent. Spotted Deer mainly feed on grasses and known for their large size and big antlers.

Sambar Deer – साम्भर

Sambar Deer is one of the largest species of deer found in India and known to have largest antlers. Sambar is the most commonly found deer species in Indian forest and favorite prey of tigers and lions.

Barasingha – बारहसिंगा

Barasingha deer also known as swamp deer is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh and feed on grasses and aquatic plants.
Swamp deer occur in the Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh and 6 localities in Uttar Pradesh.

Nilgiri Tahr

Nilgiri Tahr or simply ibex is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills of South India and also the state animal of Tamil Nadu. The ungulate inhabits the high open montane grassland habitat of the Western Ghats. Tahr is one of the known species of wild goats found in India.

Lion Tailed Macaque

Lion Tailed Macaque is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India and known for its outstanding characteristic and lion tail. The diurnal rainforest dweller spends a majority of its life in the evergreen forests.

Golden Langur

Golden Langur found in a very small region of western Assam in India and listed as one of the most endangered primate species of India. Gee’s golden langur is one of the langur found in India, other langurs of India are Gray langur, Nilgiri langur and Black footed gray langur.

Honey Badger

Honey Badger known as the ratel is primarily a carnivorous species and has few natural predators. The ratel found in Indian subcontinent, mostly in the western ghats ranges of south India.

Indian Wolf – भेड़िया

Indian Wolf is a intermediate size subspecies of grey wolf found in the Indian Subcontinent. Himalayan wolf and Tibetan wolf are two other species of canid native to India.

Indian Wild Dog

Dhole is the red dog species found in the Indian forest and listed as Endangered. Indian wild dog is a highly social animals and hunt medium and large sized ungulates.

Indian Jackal – सियार

Indian Jackal is one of the subspecies of golden jackal native to India, inhabits lowlands on the outskirts of towns and villages. Indian Jackal is one of the canid species found in India and very adaptable to urban and city life.

Striped Hyena – लकड़बग्घा

Striped Hyena species is native to Africa, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. This scavenger is the smallest of the true hyenas and a monogamous animal.

Indian Civet

Indian civets are solitary and nocturnal wild animals spends most of the time on the ground. There are 6 species of wild civet found in the Indian Subcontinent, Malabar large spotted civet is the largest one endemic to the Western Ghats.

Himalayan Bears

Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan black bear,Eurasian brown bear and Asian black bear are four most common subspecies of Black and Brown bears found in India. These bears are omnivorous and hibernate in a den during the winter.

Sangai Deer – संगइ

Brow-antlered deer is known as Sangai in India, an an endemic and endangered deer found only in Manipur and the habitat is the floating marshy grasslands of the Keibul Lamjao National Park around Loktak Lake.

Kashmir Stag – हंगुल

Kashmir stag or hangul is a subspecies of elk native to high valleys and mountains of the Kashmir Valley in India, Also the only species of elk found in India but listed as Critically Endangered.