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Indian Wildlife
Our trip to India was a cultural study trip. We did not go to the jungles.
Nevertheless, this report includes a few impressions of Indian nature from along our route. For the understanding of a specific human culture it will always be helpful to get an idea of the natural conditions a culture has developed in and still is referring to in many of its aspects.
India is a highly diversified subcontinent. Its vegetation zones range from tropical rainforests, arid savannas and dry semi-deserts to coniferous mountain forests, and India's flora and fauna are famous for their richness and biodiversity. Many of its animals and plants are seen in India only. There is a high rate of endemism (33% of Indian plant species, 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians are endemic).
India is the homeland of a registered number of 172 threatened animal species, such as the Asiatic lion, the Bengal tiger, the Indian white-rumped vulture, which has been suffering a near-extinction from feeding on the corpses of medically treated cattle. In recent decades, the system of national parks and protected areas, the first ones established in 1935, is under further development. In total, more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries have been established to save and protect genuine Indian nature. And, of course, there are government projects to save the Bengal Tiger and its endangered habitats.
With its strongly exotic appeal to visitors from Europe, the richness of Indian nature is omnipresent not only in the vast rural areas that we passed by train and bus, but also around and even within the big cities. Quite often, even a short bus stop somewhere at the roadside, a short walk from a parking lot to a historic site or even into a city green gave us the chance to make some biological observations. So, without ever concentrating on seeing wildlife, we did have some impressing sights.
Some of us may have felt sorry that no Bengal tiger ever crossed our way. But no one of us was unhappy that we did not run into any poisonous snakes, or were stung by scorpions. Many of us were fascinated or even enchanted by seeing monkeys, giant monitor lizards, peacocks, parrots and eagles, and flocks of colourful butterflies in rich subtropical vegetation.
In the end it was the colours of Indian nature that all those colourful saris in the streets reminded us to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauna_of_India