India's animal wealth comprises the Asian Elephant, the Asian Lion-the last remaining lions outside Africa, the Royal Bengal Tiger, the one-horned India Rhinoceros, the wild buffalo (Indian Bison), several of the leopard and smaller cat species and a wide variety of deer, monkeys and wild goat. A wild range of snakes, lizards and crocodiles comprise the main reptile population, while the bird wealth of the country ranges from colourful peacocks and parrots to large stocks of migrant water birds.

Most of the fauna of the country is protected by the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. A consequence of the protective measures has been the development of more than 80 national parks, 441 wildlife sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens.

Indian flora spans a wide variety from the Western Himalayas to the Eastern Himalayan and Assamese, from the species of the Indus Plain to those of the Gangetic Plain, from the Deccani and Malabari to the vegetation of the Andaman Islands. The floral wealth ranges from the Alpine to the temperate thorn, from the coniferous to the evergreen, from the scrub to deciduous forests, from thick tropical jungle to cool temperate woods.

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