Conservation of Biodiversity and

Wildlife

“Every time we lose a species we break a life

chain which has evolved over 3.5 billion years.”

- Jeffrey McNeely

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Biological Diversity

• TEXT BOOK It refers to the totality and variety of

life on earth . It includes : Genetic diversity with species. Variety among species. The range of ecosystems within which

life exists and interacts.

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Continued……..

• NET Biodiversity is the variation of life forms

within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth.

Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.

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THE NOBLE BIODIVERSITY

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TOTAL BIODIVERSITY• PLANTS - 287,655• FUNGI - 74,000 – 120,000• LICHEN - 10,000• BIRDS - 10,243• MAMMALS - 5,416

• ANIMALS - 1,250,000• FISHES - 29,300• REPTILES - 8,240• AMPHIBIANS - 5,743

2004 approx. statistics

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Species Distribution

• The density of species is very high in the Southern Hemisphere.

• 70% of the world’s species is found in just 12 countries

• They are – Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Peru and Congo.

• The Hindu-Kush-Himalayas have at least 25,000plant species that is 10% of the world’s flora.

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• FLORA - The plants of a particular area • FAUNA

- All the animals living in an area

WHAT IS FLORA AND FAUNA ?

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WHAT IS WILDLIFE ?

• TEXT BOOKWildlife is not only forests it is everywhere. It includes all non-domesticated flora and

fauna native to an area. The flora and fauna are mutually

dependent on each other.Wildlife is seen as a part of the biodiversity

of plants and animals, and micro-organisms.

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Continued……..

• NETWildlife includes all non-domesticated

plants, animals, and other organisms. It can be found in all ecosystems, Deserts,

rain forests, plains, and other areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife.

It also refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that wildlife around the world is impacted by human activities.

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THE VARIOUS TYPES OF

THE VARIOUS TYPES OF

ANIMALS

ANIMALS

--- W

ILDLIFE

--- W

ILDLIFE

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HOW ARE THE FLORA AND FAUNA DEPENDENT ON EACH

OTHER ?

• The flora and fauna of an area are mutually dependent and have to be considered together.

• The animals need plants for food and shelter.

• In turn, animals and birds provide their waste as manure for the plants.

• They propagate the seeds of plants.

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LOSS OF WORLD’S BIODIVERSITY

• The world is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate.

• The current loss of biodiversity is faster than ever before in human history and there is no sign of this process slowing down.

• Many animal and plant populations have declined in numbers and geographical spread.

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Continued……..

• There is a rate of disappearance of species called the background rate of extinction.

• Now, human activities have increased the extinction rate by 100-1000 times compared to the background rate.

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WHY DO WE LOSS BIODIVERSITY ?

• Population explosion• Deforestation• Poaching• Genetic Pollution• Destruction of habitat• Hybridization• Climate Change• Clearing of land for agriculture• Bio Piracy• Unsustainable use of natural resources• Mass Hunting• Plain Cruelty

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THE POACHING MENANCE

THE POACHING MENANCE

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THE HEAT OF DEFORESTATION

THE HEAT OF DEFORESTATION

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• Habitat Fragmentation and loss• Conflict over Habitat management• Human disturbance of Wildlife

THREATS TO WILDLIFE

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HABITAT FRAGMENTATION AND HABITAT FRAGMENTATION AND DESTRUCTION OF GREAT APE DESTRUCTION OF GREAT APE

IN CENTRAL AFRICA.IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

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CLASSIFICATION OF THREATHENED SPECIES

• Critically Endangered - The species is facing an extremely high risk

of extinction in the wild in the immediate future. They are about to be wiped out of existence.

• Endangered - The species is not critically endangered but

is facing a risk of extinction in the wild in the coming future.

• Vulnerable - The species is not in the first two categories

but is facing high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.

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THREATHENED SPECIES IN INDIA

• Critically Endangered Jenkin's Shrew Malabar Large-spotted Civet Namdapha Flying Squirrel Pygmy Hog Salim Ali's Fruit Bat Sumatran Rhinoceros Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat

FRUIT BAT

Namdapha Flying Squirrel

CRITICALLY

CRITICALLY

ENDANGERE

ENDANGERE

DD

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Continued……..

• EndangeredAsiatic Lion Asiatic Black Bear Desert CatGreat Indian RhinocerosNilgiri Leaf Monkey Indian Elephant or Asian Elephant Chiru (Tibetan Antelope)Ganges River Dolphin

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Continued……..

• Endangered Indus River DolphinNicobar ShrewNilgiri Tahr Particolored Flying Squirrel Red PandaSnow Leopard Tiger Wild Water Buffalo

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ENDANGERED

ENDANGERED

ASIATIC LION ASIATIC LION

NILGIRI GREEN NILGIRI GREEN LEAF MONKEYLEAF MONKEY

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SNOW LEOPARD

SNOW LEOPARD

THE ENDANGERED ONE

THE ENDANGERED ONE

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Continued……..

• VulnerableAsiatic Wild DogBrown Bear DugongGreyIndian Wolf Himalayan Musk Deer Asiatic Black Bear Asiatic Wild Ass BarasinghaBlackbuck

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• VulnerableFour-horned AntelopeHimalayan Tahr Nicobar Flying Fox Royal Bengal Tiger Sloth Bear Takin Wild Goat Wild YakLesser Panda

Continued……..

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VULNERABLE

VULNERABLE

ROYAL ROYAL BENGAL BENGAL TIGERTIGER

BARAHSINGHBARAHSINGHAA

SLOTH SLOTH BEARBEAR

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HUNTING

• TEXT BOOK Hunting is a deliberate killing of wild

animals for pleasure and should be banned.

It should be allowed when there is a valid reason such as an animal posing grave danger to people or other animals in that area.

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Continued……..

• NETHunting is the practice of pursuing living

animals (usually wildlife) for food, recreation, or trade.

The species which are hunted are referred to as game and are usually large or small mammals or migratory or non-migratory game birds.

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POACHING

• TEXT BOOKPoaching is illegal hunting. It is primarily done to make money.Due to poaching many species have

become threatened and has led to heavy loss of biodiversity around the world.

Poaching generally happens when a animal may be protected or may be in a protected area.

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CAT FAMILY IS M

OSTLY POACHED FOR

CAT FAMILY IS M

OSTLY POACHED FOR

ITS SKIN

ITS SKIN

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Continued……..

• NETPoaching is the illegal hunting, fishing, or

eating of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws.

Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.

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CRUELTY TOWARDS ANIMALS

• Harsh hunting that causes pain and suffering : Whales are hunted with harpoons, clubbing Seals to death, catching Wild animals with steel jaw traps.

• Transportation: long travel over seas and land in packed containers and trucks is stressful for the animals.

• Keeping in confined spaces: animals in zoos do not have enough space to roam about as they have in the wild.

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Continued……..

• Experimentation: students and scientists perform experiments and test medicines on animals which is very painful and stressful.

36CRUELTY TOWARDS ANIMALSCRUELTY TOWARDS ANIMALS

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BIOPIRACY

• TEXTBio piracy is the exploitation of

indigenous knowledge without proper compensation.

It leads to the loss of biodiversity.

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• NETBio piracy is a negative term for the

appropriation of legal rights over indigenous knowledge - particularly indigenous biomedical knowledge - without compensation to the indigenous groups who originally developed such knowledge.

Continued……..

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WHEN CAN ONE SAY THAT IT IS A CASE OF BIO PIRACY ?

• Traditional communities all over the world posses extensive knowledge of local plant species and their medicinal value.

• A pharmaceutical company may collect such knowledge about a plant and make a patented drug out of it.

• If the company sells the drug without making any payment to the community that shared its knowledge, then it would be made a case of BIOPIRACY.

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TYPES OF CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

• In-Situ (on-site) conservation tries to protect species where they are living, i.e. in their natural habitat.

• Ex-Situ (off-site) conservation attempts to preserve and protect the species in a place away from their natural habitat.

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IN-SITU Conservation

• It identifies and protects natural areas that have high biodiversity.

• It includes the establishment of Natural parks – in these parks, dwellings and

private ownership of land are not permitted. Traditional activities like grazing and fuel wood collection are a also prohibited.

Sanctuaries – in sanctuaries only some specific high class activities, which do not harm the biodiversity, are permitted.

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Continued……..

Natural Reserves – these are larger areas in which the wild flora and fauna are protected. However, people are allowed to lie in the same area and are also allowed to carry on their traditional practices and activities.

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THE OBJECTIVE BEHIND IT ?

• The main objective behind In-Situ Conservation is to preserve large areas undeveloped land so that ecosystems and biodiversity can continue to flourish and evolve.

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NATIONAL PARKS (INDIA)

• Kaziranga National Park, Assam • Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam• Keoladeo Ghana National Park,

Rajasthan• Sunderban National Park, West

Bengal• Nanda Devi National Park,

Uttaranchal

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ONE OF THE TIGERS OF

ONE OF THE TIGERS OF

THE SUNDERBAN

THE SUNDERBAN

NATIONAL PARK

NATIONAL PARK

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THE FAMOUS RHINOS OF

THE FAMOUS RHINOS OF

THE KAZIRANGA NATIONAL

THE KAZIRANGA NATIONAL

PARKPARK

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BIOSPHERE RESERVES(INDIA)

• Nilgiri, Western Ghats• Kerala and Karnataka• Nanda Devi, Uttaranchal• Manas , Assam• Sunderbans, West Bengal• Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu• Similipal, Orissa• Dehang Debang, Arunachal Pradesh• Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh

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AN EXAMPLE OF THE RICH

AN EXAMPLE OF THE RICH

BIODIVERSITY OF GULF OF

BIODIVERSITY OF GULF OF

MANNARMANNAR

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EX-SITU Conservation

• It is impossible to preserve all biodiversity by the In-Situ Conservation.

• Given the population and other pressures, we cannot set aside the required huge land area.

• So, where the population of a species has dwindled to extremely low levels, Ex-Situ Conservation is the way.

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Continued……..

• In this type of conservation we conserve biodiversity in an artificial setting.

• This includes the storage of seeds in banks, breeding of captive animal species in zoos, and setting up botanical gardens, aquariums and research institutes.

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HOW DO ZOOS HELP IN CONSERVING WILDLIFE ?

• Along with many other animals, zoo also preserves a few who are critically endangered species.

• If an animal breeds in captivity, the zoo may ultimately reintroduce the species into protected reserves.

• The public tends to support the savings of large or popular species like the tiger, elephant and panda.

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Continued……..

• There is not much interest in protecting smaller or less attractive species, even if they are known to be very important for the ecosystem.

• But the people who understand there importance, provide good financial aid to the zoos.

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CAPTIVE BREEDING OF THREATEND SPECIES

• Captive breeding is the reproduction of threatened animals in captivity.

• Captive breeding could prevent the species from going extinct.

• Individuals are bred in zoos or special centres.

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ENDANGERED SPECIES OF IGUANAS (Lizard) IN CAPTIVE

BREEDING

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WHAT DOES THIS METHOD OF CAPTIVE BREEDING

INCLUDE ?• The individuals of a species in a breeding programme serves as a genetic reservoir for the species.

• When the population stabilizes and the threat to the species is reduced, the captive breeding program releases the individuals into the habitat of the species.

• This method has been successfully used in the case of many threatened species.

• The most famous is the captive breeding of giant pandas in china.

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CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

• The convention on biological diversity (CBD) was approved in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and came into force in 1993. About 190 countries including India are parties to the Convention.

• The convention has 3 main goals:- Convention on biodiversity, Sustainable use of the components of the

biodiversity Sharing the benefits arising from the commercial

and other utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way.

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INDIAN LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY

AND WILDLIFE• Biodiversity Act Of 2002 • Wildlife protection Act Of 1972 And

Prevention Of Poaching• PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment Of

Animals)• People For Animals • Beauty Without Cruelty• SPCA(Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty

To Animals)• Blue Cross Of India

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SAVING THE ENDANGERED AFRICAN ELEPHANT

• In 1989, the African elephant was declared as an endangered species. The elephants were decreasing primarily due to the ivory trade.

• By 2000, however the elephant population had recovered in Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

• This is one of the success stories of CITES, the convention on international trade in endangered animal and Plant species.

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SAVE THE

SAVE THE

ENDANGERED

ENDANGERED

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

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CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY BY BHUTAN

• With its thick forest cover and immense biodiversity , the small Himalayan country of Bhutan is called the ‘oxygen tank’ of the world.

• Out of an area of 40,000 sq km, 72 % is under forest cover. Thus, this ecosystem supports 7000 species of plants, 165 of mammals, and 700 species of birds.

• So, the Bhutanese Government has taken very positive steps to conserve its rich biodiversity.

• Currently, 35% of Bhutan is protected. The government, is determined to maintain a forest cover of at least 60%.

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SAVING SNAKES AND CROCODILES

• Romulus Whitaker, who came to India when he was 7 learnt the art of snake-catching from the Irulas of Tamil Nadu and Crocodile catching from the natives of Papua New Guinea.

• In 1972, Whitaker and some of his friends set up the Madras Snake Park. Most of the keepers in the park are Irula tribals. The park has many species of snakes, crocodiles and turtles.

• Many endangered snake species have been breed in captivity in the snake park. The offspring have been either released in to the wild or made available to zoos.

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Continued……..

• The park gets hundreds of visitors and it tries to remove wrong ideas people have about snakes.

• Whitaker had also set up a Crocodile Bank, which breeds crocodiles in captivity and releases them into the wild.

WHITAKER

WHITAKER

PERSUADING

PERSUADING

SNAKESSNAKES

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