The issue of conservation of wildlife has been rightly gaining the kind of attention and importance it deserves. The environmental and conservation issues have to be linked and viewed in the backdrop of rapidly depleting wildlife habitat and the list of endangered species of animals. The list of endangered species includes polar bears, snow leopard, orangutans, gorillas, African elephants etc. There are world-wide efforts towards conservation of wildlife and save the endangered species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN) has prepared a comprehensive list of animals threatened with extinction which is known as "Red List" containing the names of 54 animal species whose existence on this planet is gravely endangered. In India , according to the Schedule of the Wildlife Protection Act there are about 100 animals that are at grave risk of being wiped off the face of the earth.

Conservation of Nature and Wildlife Protection Efforts in India

Although there has been a significant improvement in the level of awareness towards conservation of nature and natural resources in the form of fauna and flora unique to any particular region of the country. Preservation of biodiversity should be central to all our conservation efforts. The government has increased the budgetary allocation for Project Tiger which is the most prominent face of our conservation drive. Unfortunately our conservation efforts all revolve around saving tigers, when some other equally endangered species of animals are disappearing from our wildlife. Our conservation efforts have been inconsistent and spasmodic.

The important fact is that in order to protect the biodiversity, conservation has to be ensured for all the endangered species as extinction of any particular species would be a blow on biodiversity causing irreversible damage to our fragile ecological system. The need for a holistic approach in the conservation programs can hardly be overemphasized. We may have already lost a few like pygmy hog, fruit bat and the Malabar large-spotted civet.