Tag: wildlife resources

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only 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.  The Act provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants; and for matters connected there with 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 specified endemic 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.

The Bengal tiger is named after the Indian province of Bengal and is primarily found in India. Bengal tigers live in the forests, hills and mountainous regions of India. They are found in the tropical rainforests of southern India, as well as mangrove swamps, open grasslands and dried forests or scrub land.

In Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbucks, peacocks and nilgai are seen as an integral part of the community and nobody harms them. Bishnoi community is known for protecting the blackbucks.

The Bharatpur bird sanctuary is also named as Keoladeo National Park. This sanctuary is situated at Bharatpur in Rajasthan and extends in an area of 29 sq. km. It is a sanctuary meant for various bird fauna.

Among the given options, India Rhino is an endangered animal. In 2012, the IUCN Red List included 3079 animal and 2655 plant species as endangered (EN) worldwide. 

• The species which are not found after searching known areas where they may occur is said to have undergone extinction. 
  
• Extinction in biology or ecology means end of organism or group of organisms.
  
• Some of the animals that faced extinction are woolly mammoth, stellar sea cow, dodo etc.
  

Sunderban national park is located at the south-eastern tip of the 24 Paragana district in the state of West Bengal. It got its name from one of the mangrove plants known as Sundari. The Sundarbans are a part of the world's largest delta formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. Sundarban is a vast area covering 4262 square kms in India alone, with a larger portion in Bangladesh. 2585 sq. kms of the Indian Sundarban forms the largest Tiger Reserve and National Park in India. 

IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature. It works for the conservation of nature and the sustainable use of natural resources. It was founded by Julian Huxley in the year 1948. Its headquarter is located at Gland in Switzerland.