Despite the fact that it’s the second most populated country in the world, India is home
to a host of unique animals.
India is a biodiversity hot spot due to the vast and varied ecosystems found there.
From the Himalayan mountains to the vast desert sands in the east, there are plenty of amazing
and interesting places for wild animals to live.
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Now, here are ten unique animals only found in India.
Number 10: Nilgiri Tahr The Nilgiri Tahr is the state animal in the
Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
A sort of goat, it’s known for its gluey coat and curved horns and is a relative to
the modern sheep.
It's quite a stocky animal, and sports short, coarse fur and a bristly mane.
Both Males and Females have the signature curved horns, which reach up to 16 inches
for males, and 12 inches for females.
The Nilgiri Tahr lives in the tropical rainforest regions of India, most commonly found in the
Palani Hills and the Nilgiri Hills.
Of the three species of tahrs, the Nilgiri Tahr is the largest, and has one of the shortest
life expectancies.
They rarely live past three years old, and many of them only reproduce once before they
die.
They’ve gained the nickname of ‘cliff goat’ due to the steep rocky cliffs where
they live.
Number 9: Lion Tailed Macaque The Lion Tailed Macaque can be found in the
Western Ghats of South India, in the Sirsi Honnavara rainforests.
The name comes from its unique tail, which resembles that of a lion.
They live in large family units, sometimes up to thirty four macaques at a time, with
a single dominant male in the group.
These males emit large, whoop like hollers that sound almost human in tone.
Their communication system contains as many as sixteen different vocalizations.
While their main diet consists of plant growth, they’ve also been known to eat lizards,
tree frogs, and even various small mammals.
The main threat to these animals is the destruction of their rainforest habitat.
In fact, ninety nine percent of their original territory has been lost to logging and agricultural
growth.
Number 8: Greater One-horned Rhinoceros Located in the Himalayan foothills, you can
find the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros.
It’s the largest of all rhinoceros species in existence and is at incredibly great risk
of extinction.
It was once widespread across the entire northern part of the Indian sub-continent, but their
populations plummeted since they were often hunted for sport, or simply killed as agricultural
pests.
Thankfully, this unique animal is under strict supervision by both Indian and Nepalese wildlife
authorities, leading to an increase in the population of the species.
Today, populations have increased to almost 4000 rhinos in parts of northeastern India
and parts of Nepal.
They can run at speeds of up to thirty-four miles per hour, in short sprints, and are
also known for being excellent swimmers.
The Greater One-horned Rhinoceros fights with its incisor teeth, rather than its horn, and
prefers a solitary lifestyle.
Number 7: Red Panda The forests of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh
are home to the Red Panda.
This small mammal has earned itself the nickname ‘red cat bear’ due to its odd, but uniquely
cute, appearance.
Despite it’s name, it’s not actually related to the Giant Panda.
Because they cannot digest cellulose, two thirds of their diet consists of bamboo and
thirteen hours a day are spent eating.
Red Panda’s are about the size of a domestic cat and have a false thumb.
This false thumb is actually a growth of the wrist bone.
They are the only known non-primates to prefer artificial sweeteners to natural ones, and
to prefer sweetened water to plain water.
Number 6: Asiatic Lion The Asiatic lion is the second largest cat
species in the world, and it can only be found in India.
To be exact, it’s located in the Gir sanctuary, in Gujarat.
The most distinguishing feature of the Asiatic lion is the longitudinal fold of skin that
runs along its belly, something that’s absent in the African cousins.
They live in prides of up to three males and a dozen females.
The Asiatic lions at the Gir sanctuary are the last surviving Asiatic lions in the world.
Asiatic lions are also slightly smaller than their African cousins.
A unique trait is that their heels do not touch the ground when they walk.
Their main food sources are wild boar and deer.
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Number 5: Kashmir Red Stag The Kashmir Red Stag, as the name might imply,
can be found in the state of Kashmir, in the Sind Valley regions.
The white patch on the rump makes this deer easy to distinguish from others.
They’re classified as an endangered species, and are commonly called hangul.
In summer, their fur takes on a much brighter hue.
As adults, their horns have at least five points.
They are a subspecies of red deer and they do, in fact, shed their velvet.
They can weigh up to six hundred pounds, making the male Kashmir Red Stag truly massive mammals
to encounter.
According to fossil records, these red stag deer have been around for at least twelve
million years.
Number 4: Snow Leopard Snow leopards are located in the Himalayan
region of India, with the largest numbers located at the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary.
The snow leopard can neither roar nor purr, but can run at speeds of up to forty miles
per hour, and have the ability to leap up to fifty feet.
Their diet consists mainly of wild sheep and goats also found in the region.
Despite the fact that they closely resemble leopards, they are not considered to be parts
of the snow leopard family.
They are called the grey ghosts of the Himalayas due to how well they blend in with their surroundings.
Paired with their shy nature, this can often make it incredibly difficult to spot a snow
leopard, even if you’re near one.
Outside of mating season, they are solitary animals and prefer to live on their own.
Number 3: Indian Bison The Indian Bison might be one of the rarest
animal on this list.
They are known natively as Gaur, and have been on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
In the last three generations, their population has declined by seventy percent.
They are the state animal of Goa and Bihar.
They are the largest of any bovine and the tallest of any wild cattle species.
In the wild, their life expectancy is only about twelve years, but the average lifespan
of a Gaur in captivity is twenty six years.
The adult male weighs between 1.3 and 1.8 tons.
Even unprovoked, the male gaurs are extremely aggressive and can cause extensive and often
even lethal injuries with their upwardly curved horns.
Social animals, they usually gather in herds of ten large, with one dominant male.
This makes them extremely hard for humans to provoke.
Number 2: Black Buck The Black Buck is the state animal of Punjab,
Haryana, and Andhra Pradesh.
This goat has uniquely spiralled horns.
The colouring is also easy to distinguish from other goats in the region; a white underbelly,
with white spots around the eyes and a black mantle.
They used to cover the entire subcontinent of India, but their numbers plummeted as human
population increased.
It’s rare to see herds larger than thirty Black Bucks.
The females do not have horns.
In the winter, the black colouring fades to a rusty brown.
Jackals and pariah dogs are the main predators of Black Bucks, though the recent outbreak
of wild and feral stray dogs has begun to take a toll on their numbers as well.
As they age, the male Black Bucks gradually grow darker in colour.
By the time they are fully mature, a male Black Buck has four turns in their horns.
These social animals lack any sort of strong sense of smell or hearing and rely almost
solely on their eyesight to locate dangers.
When danger is located, the Black Buck will leap into the air to alert the rest of the
herd.
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Number 1: Asian Elephant Finally, we come to the Asian elephant.
This is one of the single largest mammals in the world, and can easily be observed even
from the jungle roads that run through South India.
More than fifty percent of all Asian elephants in the world are currently found in India,
most notably in the Kabiri Forest.
They can easily live to be sixty years or older, even in the wild, and have a large
and highly developed neocortex, making them one of the smartest mammals in the world.
They often reach seven and a half foot tall at the crest of their head, which is considered
the tallest point of their body, and weigh an average of seven thousand pounds.
They play a major role in Hinduism, and the blessings of a temple elephant are highly
valued.
The oldest ever elephant was named Lin Wang, and lived to be eighty six.
Asian elephants have smaller, more rounded ears, unlike their African counterparts.
While males have large tusks, the females have much smaller tushes.
As might be expected, their main food source is grass – an adult Asian elephant eats
three hundred pounds of food every day!
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