Indian Flora and Fauna

Pin Valley National Park is located in Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. It was established in 1987 and is part of the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area.

The tiger was declared India's national animal in 1973 due to its unique combination of grace, strength, agility, and enormous power. These qualities make it an apt symbol of India's rich wildlife heritage and the need for its conservation.

The State Emblem of India incorporates multiple animals: four lions atop the capital, a horse and bull beneath the abacus, and elephants at the corners. All these animals hold symbolic significance in Indian culture.

Kaziranga National Park in Assam is home to the largest population of the Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 due to its successful conservation efforts. Dudhwa is known for rhinos too, but Kaziranga has the famous population. Gir is known for Asiatic lions, while Kanha and Bandhavgarh are tiger reserves.

The Asiatic cheetah became extinct in India in the 1950s, with the last confirmed sightings in the 1940s. While attempts have been made to reintroduce cheetahs to India (with African cheetahs), the original Asiatic cheetah population is extinct. Golden bear, wooly wolf, and rhinoceros are either not extinct in India or not the correct answer.

Gir National Park in Gujarat is the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) in the world. When the lion population was critically endangered in the early 20th century, conservation efforts in Gir Forest saved the species from extinction. Today, about 600 lions thrive there, and some have been translocated to Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh as a second home.

Thorn forests (tropical thorn scrub) grow in arid and semi-arid regions with low rainfall (less than 70cm annually). They are characterized by thorny, hard-leaved, widely spaced vegetation. Rajasthan and Gujarat have the ideal climate for thorn forests, receiving minimal rainfall and experiencing high temperatures. In contrast, Assam and Meghalaya have tropical rainforests due to heavy rainfall, the Malabar Coast has moist deciduous forests, and the Terai has moist sal forests.

The Ken-Betwa river-linking project encompasses forest areas within Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. This was a significant ecological concern that led to the review request by Jairam Ramesh. Panna Tiger Reserve is known for its tiger population and would be affected by the project. The other tiger reserves listed (Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench, Ratapani) are in MP but not directly impacted by this specific river-linking project.

Jim Corbett Park (Corbett National Park) in India was the site of Asia's first Tiger Safari, established to promote tiger conservation and tourism. While Bangkok and Penang have tiger facilities, they were not the first dedicated tiger safaris.

Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Gujarat, specifically in the Junagadh district. It is the only place in the world outside Africa where Asiatic lions can be found in their natural habitat. The sanctuary was established in 1965 to protect the endangered Asiatic lion.

Manas National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Assam. It is a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve, and a biosphere reserve. The park is known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur, and pygmy hog.

Ghana Bird Sanctuary, also known as Ghana Keoladeo or Keoladeo National Park, is located in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for thousands of migratory birds, especially Siberian cranes that visit during winter. The sanctuary was created in the 18th century as a royal hunting ground.

Kaziranga National Park in Assam was established in 1905 primarily to protect the endangered one-horned rhinoceros. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site hosting two-thirds of the world's rhino population. The sanctuary was created specifically because rhinos were being hunted extensively for their horns.

The white tiger population originated from the Rewa region in the Baghelkhand area of Madhya Pradesh. The first white tiger was captured by the Maharaja of Rewa in 1951.