Disappeared Wildlife: Discover Five Extinct Creatures That Were Once Found In India

Did you know that India is home to 11.5 per cent and 6.49 per cent of all flora and fauna in the world, respectively?

The Indian subcontinent is popularly known for having varied and rich biodiversity, and it shelters some of the most rarely found and magnificent wild creatures. India has 133 species of highly endangered or rare birds, reptiles, and wild animals. Let us learn about the five extinct animals that were once found in India.

Malabar Civet

This animal is eminently known to be endangered but feared to be extinct. This civet cat, weighing around seven kilograms, was once copiously found alongside Western Ghats’ coastal stretch. However, this creature has neither been recorded nor spotted since 1990. An attempt was made in 2007 to spot this animal using camera traps, but the efforts were rendered futile. Currently, there is a debate on whether or not it is time to announce this species of civet cat to be extinct.

Indian Aurochs

Indian Aurochs have gone extinct and are identified as the ancestor of the zebu cattle. This animal disappeared during the Holocene age - most likely around 2000 BC. We know about the Indian aurochs from their fossils and subfossils. They roamed in the Ganges valley toward south India and the Indus valley.

Sivatherium

Sivatherium was a terrestrial animal with a giraffe-like appearance and was found all over Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. It became extinct nearly 8,000 years ago. You can identify this beast from ancient cave paintings in India and Africa.

Indian Javan Rhinocéros

The Indian Javan Rhinocéros was once considered a widespread species of rhinoceros, but its number has plunged shockingly, and now labelled as one of the most endangered rhino species in the world. In India, these rhinos have gone extinct. They thrived harmoniously in the Bengal and Assam belt in India and were found all over southeast Asia. But now, you can only trace them in Java's Ujong Kulon National Park. The Indian Javan Rhinos declined due to illegal poaching to obtain their horns.

Indian or Asiatic Cheetah

This species is worth mentioning because the Indian government has recently declared its efforts to reintroduce the locally extinct Indian cheetah into the country. As of now, this species of cheetah has disappeared from India, and it was last spotted nearly 70 years ago when the last one was hunted as a mere sport.

It is sad how so many animal species from around the world are on the verge of facing extinction, and we must do our best to preserve the ones that are endangered.