Down To Earth (16-31 December, 2025)

India’s Biodiversity Loss

• Humanity’s footprint has disrupted every major ecosystem on Earth, from climate change and pollution to the relentless exploitation of land and oceans
• At least 680 vertebrate species have gone extinct since 1500, with extinction rates accelerating as global temperatures rise.
• India is a global biodiversity hotspot, harboring nearly 8% of plant species and 7.5% of animal species, many of them endemic, with just 2.4% of the world’s land area.
• At the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi (2024), India announced the National Red List Assessment Initiative to evaluate species conservation status and fulfill India’s commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2030).

Findings from the Living Planet Report 2024

• According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London’s 2024 Living Planet Report, the world’s wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% in just five decades.
• Terrestrial Species: down by 69%
• Marine Species: down by 56%
• Freshwater Species: down by an alarming 85%
• The report identifies habitat loss and degradation, driven largely by agricultural expansion, as the most widespread threats, followed by overexploitation, invasive species, and disease.
• These losses are not mere statistics; they are warning signals of collapsing ecosystems that sustain all life.

Declines: Taxonomic Bias

• Lesser-known species like frogs, snakes, birds, and pollinators are quietly vanishing, undermining ecosystem stability.
• India’s vulture species have declined dramatically: white-rumped vulture (-67%), Indian vulture (-48%), and slender-billed vulture (-89%).
• Native bee populations in Odisha have fallen by 80% since 2002, threatening pollination systems critical to agriculture.
• Knowledge gaps persist about key insects, flies, beetles, and butterflies—that underpin food security.

Flagship Successes: Tigers and Lions

• Projects such as Project Tiger and Project Lion have become global success stories.
• Tiger populations are rebounding in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra.
• The Asiatic lion population in Gujarat’s Gir forest has increased from 674 (2020) to 891 (2025), prompting a change in its IUCN status from Endangered to Vulnerable.

Fresh Policy Initiatives: From Kunming to COP16

• Building upon the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of 2022, COP16 (scheduled for 2025 in Colombia) aims to operationalize the 30x30 conservation goal—protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030.
• UN policy briefs released in December 2024 stress that only 17% of global terrestrial ecosystems and 8% of marine areas are currently under effective protection, revealing a serious implementation gap.

Species Demanding Conservation Attention in India

Mishmi Takin (Budorcas Taxicolor Taxicolor)

• Habitat: It is found in Arunachal Pradesh of India (Mishmi Hills, Eastern Himalayas); also found in China and Myanmar.
• China is also home to two other subspecies: the Golden Takin (Budorcas Taxicolor Bedfordi) and the Sichuan Takin (Budorcas Taxicolor Tibetana).
• A fourth subspecies, the Bhutan Takin (Budorcas Taxicolor Whitei), as its name suggests, is found in Bhutan.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I in WPA, 1972
• Major Threats: Habitat loss due to logging, hunting, large infrastructure projects.

Sangai Deer (Rucervus Eldii Eldii)

• It is endemic to south-east Asia and their range of distribution extends from Manipur in India to Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Hainan.
• It is recognised as the State animal of Manipur, found in the Northern end of Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur.
• It lives on phumdis, floating biomass of vegetation which gives it a distinctive, graceful movement.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
• Conservation Action Plan (2016–2025): A joint initiative by the Wildlife Institute of India, Manipur Forest Department, and MoEFCC, funded by the National CAMPA.
• Studbook Program: The Central Zoo Authority and WII maintain a national studbook to track captive populations and support breeding programs.
• Major Threats: Inbreeding depression, habitat loss due to pollution, agricultural runoff.

Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus Hylocrius)

• It is recognised as the State animal of Tamil Nadu, found in the Southern parts of Western and Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• In ancient Tamil Sangam literature the ungulate, called varayãdu or mountain goat.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I under WPA, 1972
• Major Threats: Habitat loss due to deforestation and invasive species, occasional hunting.

Kashmir Markhor (Capra Falconari Cashmiriensis)

• It is recognised as the National animal of Pakistan, primarily found in Pakistan, Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
• Conservation Status: Near Threatened under IUCN Red List; Schedule I of WPA, 1972
• UNGA declared May 24 as the ‘International Day of the Markhor’.
• Major Threats: Unwise developmental activities, heavy livestock grazing, poaching.

Grey Slender Loris (Loris Lydekkerianus)

• It is found in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Conservation Status: Near Threatened under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
• Major Threats: Hunting for body parts, illegal pet trade, roadside captures

Nilgiri Langur (Trachypithecus Johnii)

• It is found in high-altitude forests of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Karnataka.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable under IUCN Red List; Schedule I of WPA, 1972
• Major Threats: Poaching, habitat loss and road kill

Phayre’s Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus Phayrei)

• It is found in Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Bangladesh.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List; Schedule I of WPA, 1972
• Major Threats: Habitat loss, forest fragmentation, hunting

Gee’s Golden Langur (Trachypithecus Geei)

• It is found in the Indian states of Assam.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Habitat loss, forest fragmentation and hunting

Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock Hoolock)

• It is recognised as the State animal of Arunachal Pradesh, primarily found in Indian states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Habitat loss, forest fragmentation, hunting

Lion-Tailed Macaque (Macaca Silenus)

• It is found in the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Expanding plantations, fragmentation, tourism

Royle’s Pika (Ochotona Roylei)

• It is found in the Western Himalayas.
• Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Climate change, population isolation

Pygmy Hog (Porcula Salvania)

• It is found in the grasslands of Assam’s Manas National Park and Orang National Park.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Grassland degradation due to uncontrolled grass burning, illegal cattle grazing, rapid habitat succession

Madras Hedgehog (Paraechinus Nudiventris)

• It is found in the Peninsular India, primarily across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka.
• Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Grassland degradation due to uncontrolled grass burning, illegal cattle grazing, rapid habitat succession

Fishing Cat (Prionailurus Viverrinus)

• It is recognised as the State animal of West Bengal, primarily found in Indus basin; Ganga and Brahmaputra floodplains and delta of West Bengal and Bangladesh; Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna basins.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Habitat loss due to degradation, destruction of wetlands

Blyth’s Tragopan (Tragopan Blythii)

• It is found in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Small, fragmented population declining due to hunting, habitat loss.

Cheer Pheasant (Catreus Wallichii)

• It is found in the Western Himalaya from northern Pakistan and Kashmir through Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to central Nepal.
• Conservation Status:Vulnerable under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I under WPA, 1972; Appendix I of CITES
• Major Threats: Small, fragmented populations, increasing human and livestock pressures, hunting, changing land-use patterns.

Black-Necked Crane (Grus Nigricollis)

• It is recognised as the State bird of Ladakh, primarily found in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Conservation Status: Near Threatened under IUCN Red List
• Schedule I under WPA, 1972; , and appears in Appendices I and II under CITES.
• Major Threats: Changing agricultural practices, predation by free-ranging dogs, rapid and unregulated development around high-altitude wetlands

Western Tragopan (Tragopan Melanocephalus)

• It is found in the Western Himalayas.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Forest loss, habitat degradation

Red-Crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur Kachuga)

• It is found in the Ganga river basin.
• Conservation Status: Critically Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Inbreeding depression

Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis Bengalensis)

• It is found in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
• Conservation Status: Critically Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Land-use change, expansion of agriculture, change of river course, invasive plant species, fire mismanagement

Indus River Dolphin (Platanista Minor)

• It is recognised as the State aquatic animal of Punjab, primarily found in a 70-km stretch of the Beas, particularly between Beas bridge and Harike in Punjab, India; Indus river and tributaries in Pakistan.
• Conservation Status: Endangered under IUCN Red List
• Major Threats: Extensive fishing, bycatch, sedimentation, dams, river pollution

King Cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah)

• It is recognised as the National Reptile of India, primarily found in South and Southeast Asia.
• Conservation Status: Vulnerable as per IUCN (in revaluation)
• Major Threats: Habitat destruction, human hostility