Want to know more about India's wildlife? Look beyond national parks and sanctuaries

When we think of wildlife, we might picture tigers moving among tall sal trees, crocodiles swimming in rivers, elephants gathered around waterholes. We often only think of pristine forests; we think of national parks or sanctuaries, legally known as Protected Areas (PA). But wildlife doesn’t restrict itself to administrative and political boundaries.

India is home to a diverse set of habitats – rainforests, deserts, mangroves, grasslands, etc. – sheltering even various wildlife species. It roughly accounts for 7-8 percent of the world’s recorded species. The country’s PA network comprising Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks, Conservation Reserves, Community Reserves, and Marine Protected Areas, occupies just 5.02 percent of the total area. Consequently, a large percentage of India’s wildlife live outside protected boundaries. They inhabit or move through farms, gardens, lakes, coasts, and so on in villages, towns, and cities.

This overlap in spaces gives rise to situations spanning between coexistence and conflict between wildlife and humans. As natural habitats are increasingly under threat due to human pressure, space and resources struggle. To safeguard lives – both animal and human – requires awareness and acknowledgment of wildlife beyond protected areas.

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[mandarkokate]

The journalism that is a need . Thank you Mongabay India .My village(Sawarde) is situated in konkan region South Maharashtra which is full of wildlife, dense evergreen forest and biodiversity. I have encountered leopard, Moniter lizards, snakes 20+ times, Pythons, sambers in the vicinity of village boundary.The land use pattern of my village is changing and entering in forest area normally construction. Coexistence is not solution in my opinion because at any cost leopard nearby villages need some prey and they normally feed on poultry, goat, domestic animals nowadays so there will be loss of someone either leopard or villagers . Few weeks ago leopard hunted down 2 pet dogs.The only solution is undisturbed connectivity of rich and more forest across the country.

[SUN-itrf]

Lovely video. We should learn to co-exist with these magnificent creatures. God bless everyone who helps. 🙏🙏🙏

[RahulKumar-pyfz]

Great great video, Mongabay! You guys deserve a million views on this...

[lohithagandham]

You have less views on your videos but are really very good and informative. Mark my words, you will definitely succeed in youtube