The government of India has initiated several wildlife conservation projects to protect endangered species and their habitats. These include Project Tiger (1973) to save tigers, Project Elephant (1992) for elephant protection, Project Crocodile (1975) to conserve crocodilians, Project Hangul (1970s) for the Kashmir Red Stag, and Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (2005) with the goal of achieving a population of 3,000 one-horned rhinos by 2020. The projects aim to preserve habitats, reduce human-animal conflicts, and prevent poaching through captive breeding and protected areas. Conservation efforts have led to increased populations and saved several species from extinction.

1. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
PROJECTS IN INDIA
By : Nida Anwar

2. Wildlife Conservation Projects
■ Wildlife Conservation projects aim to preserve and use natural resources in
a sustainable manner. This is done to ensure that future generations can
benefit from these resources. Wildlife is an essential element of nature, so
it must be protected.
■ The government of India has initiated many wildlife conservation
projects like Project Elephant, Project Tiger, Indian Rhino Vision
2020, Project Hangul, Crocodile Conservation Initiative, etc.

3. Project Tiger
• The population of Indian Tigers was rapidly dropping at
the end of the twentieth century.
• In response, government of India launched project
Tiger in 1973.
• Project Tiger was established in the Palamau Tiger
Reserve, Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, in
1973.
• This is a Ministry of Environment and Forests-
sponsored initiative.
• The project’s goal is to save tigers from extinction by
ensuring that the animal has a viable population in its
native habitat.
• The Initiative has had tremendous success in restoring
the habitat and population of tigers in the protected
regions.

4. TigerTaskForce
■ To ensure the proper implementation of the project Tiger , it
required the need for statuary authority to ensure tiger
conservation.
■ The Tiger Task Force was Set up to look after the problems of
Tiger conservation in India, on the recommendations of the
national board for wildlife.
■ The TTF proposed the formation of the National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA).
■ National Board for Wildlife 》Tiger Task Force 》 NTCA

5. Project Elephant
•
• Project Elephant is a federally funded
program that began in 1992.
• The project intends to help with elephant
management and protection in states with
free-roaming wild elephant populations
• The protection of elephants is particularly
crucial because it has been classified as a
national heritage of the country.
• The Government of India did this in 2010,
following the recommendations of the
Standing Committee on the National Board of
Wildlife.

6. The project’s goals are as follows:
■ Preservation of elephants,
elephant corridors, and their
habitats; prevention of man-
animal conflicts; and
protection of domesticated
elephants.
■ This initiative is critical
because it protects elephants
from poachers and hunters,
hence reducing illegal ivory
trade.

7. Project Crocodile • Crocodilians were threatened in India because of
an increase in indiscriminate kills. They were
poached for commercial interests, causing their
population to plummet dramatically.
• Aside from that, there has been a loss of habitat
due to increased development and
industrialization.
• In response to this scenario, Project Crocodile was
launched in 1975.
• The initiative was launched by the Indian
government in collaboration with the Food and
Agricultural Organization and the United Nations
Development Fund.

8. ■ The project include an intensive captive rearing and
breeding program intended to restock depleted
Gharial habitat.
■ Crocodile populations have increased as a result of the
project’s implementation, saving them from extinction.
■ National Chambal Sanctuary and Katerniaghat wildlife
Sanctuary are two of the protected sites.

9. Project Hangul
• The Hangul, also known as the Kashmir Red Stag, is
a subspecies of the Central Asian Red Deer that is
native to northern India. It is typically found in the
deep riverine forests of Kashmir Valley, Himachal
Pradesh, Sindh Valley, etc.
• The Jammu and Kashmir governments, in
collaboration with the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wildlife
Fund (WWF), developed a program in the 1970s to
protect and conserve the Kashmir Red Stag and its
habitat.

10. • It has been considered one of the most endangered mammal
species in the Indian subcontinent since the 1950s.
• Threats to Hangul: Habitat destruction, Overgrazing, infection
and poaching.
• The project’s goal was to build enclosures for the species’
artificial breeding.

11. Indian Rhino Vision
2020
• Single Horned Rhino is an important protected wildlife
in India.
• The conservation efforts for this animal started in
1987 as ‘ Project Rhino’
• Indian Rhino Vision 2020, which was launched in 2005, was
an ambitious initiative to achieve a wild population of at
least 3,000 larger one-horned rhinos scattered throughout
seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the
year 2020.
• Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang National Park, Manas National
Park, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, Burachapori Wildlife
Sanctuary, and Dibru Saikhowa Wildlife Sanctuary are the
seven protected places.

12. Some other projects are :
■ Project Gangetic River Dolphin (1986)
■ Project Snow Leopard (2009)
■ Project Vulture (2006)
■ The Gur Lion Sanctuary Project (1972)
■ Project Himalayan Musk Deer (1981)
■ Project Cheetah (2022)

13. Thank you