Fauna of Western Ghats

^{The Western Ghats are home to thousands of animal species including at least 325 globally threatened species. Many are endemic species, especially in the amphibian and reptilian classes. Thirty two threatened species of mammals live in the Western Ghats. Of the 16 endemic mammals, 13 are threatened.}


 

Mammals- There are at least 139 mammal species. A critically endangered mammal of the Western Ghats is the nocturnal Malabar large-spotted civet. The arboreal Lion-tailed macaque is endangered. Only 2500 of this species are remaining.The largest population of Lion tailed macacque is in Silent Valley National Park. Kudremukh National Park also protects a viable population.

 

These hill ranges serve as important wildlife corridors, allowing seasonal migration of endangered Asian elephants. The Nilgiri Bio-sphere is home to the largest population of Asian Elephants and forms an important Project Elephant and Project Tiger reserve. Brahmagiri and Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuaries are important elephant habitats. Karnataka's Ghat areas hold over six thousand elephants (as of 2004) and ten percent of India's critically endangered tiger population.

The largest population of India's tigers outside the Sundarbans is in the unbroken forests bordering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The largest numbers and herds of vulnerable gaur are found here with the Bandipur National Park and Nagarhole together holding over five thousand Gaur.To the west the forests of Kodagu hold sizeable populations of the endangered Nilgiri langur.

Reptiles- The snake family Uropeltidae of the reptile class is almost entirely restricted to this region.

Amphibians- The amphibians of the Western Ghats are diverse and unique, with more than 80% of the 179 amphibian species being endemic to the region. Most of the endemic species have their distribution in the rainforests of these mountains. The endangered Purple frog was discovered in 2003 to be a living fossil. This species of frog is most closely related to species found in the Seychelles. Four new species of Anurans belonging to the genus Rhacophorus, Polypedates, Philautus and Bufo have been described from the Western Ghats.

Fish – 102 species of fish are listed for the Western Ghats water bodies. Western Ghats streams are home to several brilliantly coloured ornamental fishes like Red line torpedo barb, Red-tailed barb, Osteobrama bakeri, Günther's catfish and freshwater puffer fish Tetraodon travancoricus, Carinotetraodon imitator and marine forms like Chelonodon patoca (Buchanan-Hamilton, 1822); mahseers such as Malabar mahseer.

Birds- There are at least 508 bird species. Most of Karnataka's five hundred species of birds are from the Western Ghats region. Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the northern end of the Malabar ranges and the southern tip of the Sahyadri ranges and bird species from both ranges can be seen here.