endangered and endemic species of India
|Category||Species Enlisted||Highly Endangered Species|
|Higher plants||15,000||135||(As per list prepared|
|Birds||1,175||40||As per schedule of|
|Reptiles & Amphibians||580||22||wildlife Act, 1972,|
|Fish||1,693||N.A||updated up to 1980.|
Equally disturbing and the matter of far more consequence is that we have till now not explored even 10% of the existing biodiversity, and with such an alarming rate of extinction, we have even been destroying species, the potential of which is either not studied or less studied. In other words, species are being destroyed with being even discovered or classified.
The causes for loss of species are complex and varied and prominent among these could be listed as follows:
(1) Modification, degradation and loss of habitats due to colonization and clearing of forest areas for settlement or agricultural expansion, commercial lodgings, large hydel schemes, fire, human and livestock pressure etc.
(2) Over exploitation, mainly for commercial (and often illegal) purposes like meat, fur, hides, body organs, medicinal etc.
(3) Accidental or deliberate introduction of exotic species which can threaten native flora and fauna directly by predation or by competition and also indirectly by altering the natural habitat or introducing diseases.
(4) Pollution (both air and water) stresses ecosystem, mismanagement of industrial and agriculture wastes threaten both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem.
(5) Increase in the global surface temperature by 2° C to 6° C (global warming).
(6) The other possible reasons for loss of species could be improper use of agro- chemicals and pesticides, a rapidly growing human population, inequitable land distribution, economic and political policies and constraints