DIRECTION IAS  SAVE OUR SPECIES 

On Earth Day, the loss of forest habitat in

India is causing one of the biggest
environmental challenges for the
country’s dwindling wildlife

Earth Day is a call to action for the global community to address climate change, foster a
sustainable, healthy environment and protect our planet for future generations.
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide, various events are held to
demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, by founder Gaylord
Nelson .Earth Day now includes events in more than 193 countries, which are now coordinated
globally by the Earth Day Network.
Themes:
• 2017 Environmental and Climate Literacy

• 2018 End Plastic Pollution

• 2019 save our species

G
angetic river dolphin
(1260 left)
Where: Ganges,
Brahmaputra, their tributaries
Why: The dolphin is an indicator
species for the Ganga ecosystem as
it is vulnerable to changes in water
quality. It is listed as “endangered”
on the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Red List.

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G
reat Indian bustard (50-200 left)
Locally extinct in 90% of its range. Once
thrived in arid, semi-arid and moist
grasslands across the country Why: Unique to
grasslands. The Wildlife Institute of India in
February said that there is a need to mitigate
power line-caused bustard deaths, and a need for
conservation breeding.

S
now leopard (600 left)
Where: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu &
Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal
Pradesh
Why: Government has declared snow leopard a
flagship species for high altitude Himalayas. They
are threatened by habitat degradation, loss of prey
species, climate change, mining, infrastructure
projects.

R ed panda (2000 left)

Where: Sikkim, part of west
Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling
district, parts of Meghalaya
Why: Affected by habitat fragmentation
in the Himalayas. Red panda diet is
98% bamboo. Since 2008, the species is
classified as “endangered” in the IUCN
Red List, with a decreasing population
trend.

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C
louded leopard (Not known)
Where: Eastern Himalayas including north Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya,
Mizoram and Arunachal
Pradesh.
Why: They are elusive, nocturnal, and
found in very low densities. The clouded
leopard is categorised as “vulnerable” on
the IUCN Red List.

T he Asiatic wild dog or dholes (1000-2215 left)

Where: Western Ghats.
Why: Dholes is key predator. Declining
numbers are worrisome as dholes balance prey
populations and are indicator of healthy forest
ecosystem.

Others endangered species

• Asian wild buffalo • Edible nest swiflet • Malabar civet

• Asiatic lion • Hangul • Marine turtles
• Brow antlered deer • Indian one horned rhino • Nicobar megapode
• Dugong • Jerdon's courser • Nilgiri tahr

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Case study (Centre for Wildlife Studies)

The Asiatic wild dog or dholes, an adept hunter documented to have overpowered leopards and
tigers when hunting in packs, may disappear from its habitat in India, Centre for Wildlife Studies
(CWS) warned in its study published in February.

Dholes face local extinctions in 37,000 sq km surveyed across the Western Ghats, which is their
only habitat in India.

Dhole occupancy or dhole signs, which were detected in 35% of the sites surveyed in 2007, had
reduced to 30% of the sites by 2015, found the study published in Nature journal’s Scientific
Reports.

The study identified 49 sites most sensitive to local extinction, which could significantly reduce
the wild dog’s numbers.

On the 49th annual Earth Day – a global event to highlight environmental issues — we take a
look at the how loss of forest habitat is causing one of the biggest environmental challenges for
the country’s wildlife and the changes needed in government measures to save endangered
species likes dholes.

Dhole is a wild apex carnivore that primarily inhabits forested areas in south and Southeast Asia.
Globally, dholes have disappeared from 82% of their former range, it was found that the
Western Ghats landscape, in spite of its relatively high-quality reserve network, does not seem
adequate for conserving what may be the largest dholes meta-population in the world.

In the absence of government-sourced updated estimates of the population numbers of many

species, the only estimates are those by wildlife experts working in the field. Under its Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitat scheme, the Union environment ministry releases just one crore
each annually to the state governments for the conservation of protected areas and other wildlife
habitats. In comparison, Rs.350 crore was allocated for the conservation of tigers in this year’s
Union budget.

There can be no conservation without community participation. They [communities] need to be

made parties in benefit sharing and management of forests. For example, both red panda and
snow leopards are found in Arunachal Pradesh, where communities own forests. Outsiders may
not be able to do much without their involvement.

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