Flanking the Himalayas

Many Indian species have descended from those of Gondwana, the southern supercontinent from which India separated more than 100 million years ago.[195] India’s subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic

changes later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.[196] Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the Himalayas.[189] This had the effect of lowering endemism among India’s mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians.[185] Notable endemics are the vulnerable[197] hooded leaf monkey[198] and the threatened[199] Beddom’s toad[199][200] of the Western Ghats.

A Chital (Axis axis) stag attempts to browse in the Nagarhole National Park in a region covered by a moderately dense[k] forest.[189]

India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened animal species, or 2.9% of endangered forms.[201] These include the endangered Bengal tiger and the Ganges river dolphin. Critically endangered species include: the gharial, a crocodilian; the great

Indian bustard; and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.[202] The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was expanded

substantially. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[203] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988.[204] India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and thirteen biosphere reserves,[205] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[206]