There are 103 existing National Parks In India covering an area of 37,921.66 km2, which is 1.15% of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database,2004). In addition to the above, 74 national parks covering an area of 16630.08 km2 are proposed in the protected Area Network Report (PANR).
Wildlife Sanctuary
There are 492 existing wildlife Sanctuaries in India covering an area of 117,077.41 km2, which is 3.56% of the geographical area of the country. Another 217 sanctuaries are proposed in the Protected Area Network Report covering an area of 16,669.44 km2.
Most of the Sanctuaries provided well are at least optium accommodation and other facilities but they had to be booked in advance. Some parks are provided modern guest house. Usually van and jeep rides and also boat trips are arranged to give the visitors a good view of the animals in their natural habits. Watchtowers and hides are also available.
Some of the notable parks and sanctuaries are listed below:
Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary
Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary has a scenic valley and a meandering river. Wildlife here includes rare Kashmiri stags, black bears, and musk deers. In recent years the wildlife here have been vastly endangered. It is 22 km by road from Srinagar.
Corbett National Park
This park in Uttar-Pradesh is famous for its tigers. Other wild lives include cheetahs, deer, elephants, leopards, and sloth bears. The park has good scenery with sal and hardwood trees. There are numerous watch towers and daytime photography is allowed.
Sunderbans Wildlife Sanctuary
Sunderbans reserve in West Bengal is to the southeast of the city of Calcutta(Kolkata). It contains the Mangroves forest of the Gangetic delta, It is important heaven for tigers but it also includes fishing cats and a wild variety of birds. It is accessible by boat only.
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
This area bordering Bhutan is formed by the river Manas, Hakua, and Beki rivers and is situated in Assam state. The wildlife includes tigers, buffaloes, elephants, swamp deers, and langurs. The Bodo rebels of Assam have recently used it and consequently, most of its infrastructure has been destroyed.
Kaziranga National Parks
Kaziranga National Park in Assam is famous for its one-horned Rhinos which are almost extinct now but for a few. the park is full of grasses and swampy areas. The rhinos spotted around the swampy areas, bathing, Egrets and other birds are also accommodated here.
Ranthambore National Park
Ranthambore or Swami Madhopur in Rajasthan is smaller in size when compared to most of the parks in India. It is famous for its lake tigers but nowadays the number has swindled thanks to large-scale poaching in these areas. It is located on the Mumbai – Delhi rail-line and is 160kms by road from Jaipur.
Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary
It is the best-known bird sanctuary in India, situated in Rajasthan, also called Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, and features a large number of migrating from Siberia and China, which includes herons, storks,cranes and geese. It also houses deers and other wildlife.
Sasan Gir National Park
This Oasis in the desert of Gujrat is famous for the Asiatic Lions, which number around 250. They spotted around the lakes and other watering holes. It also includes crocodiles.
Kanha National Park
Kanha is one of the spectacular and most exciting parks for wildlife in India and is in Madhya Pradesh. Originally it was conceived to protect the swamp deers also called Barasinghas but now it also includes tigers, chitals, blackbucks, langurs, and leopards.
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
This is large and scenic park in Kerala state built around an artificial lake. It is famous for large elephant population. Other include the wild dogs, Nilgiri langurs, otters, tortoise and hornbills.
Vedanthangal Bird sanctuary
This bird sanctuary is situated around 35kms to the south of Chengalpattu in Tamilnadu and is home to a large variety of birds. Cormorants, egrets, herons, storks, ibises, pelicans, grebes, and hornbills breed here from October to March. at the peak season of December to January, more than 30000 birds can be spotted.
Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary
This one also known as Koddikarai is situated in Tamilnadu, around 90 kms from Tanjore. This is wetland area jutting out of the Palk Strait that separates India and Sri-Lanka. It is famous for migratory birds mainly flamingoes, black buck, spotted deers and wild pigs are found here.
Mundanthurai Tiger Sanctuary
This is located in Tamilnadu along its border with Kerala. It mainly consists of tigers but also has chitals, sambhars, and lion tailed macaques. But it is extremely difficult to spot the tigers.
Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary
This is along the slopes of the western ghats mountains in the border between Tamilnadu and Kerala. It is also known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. It has an area around 1000 sq km and houses elephants, gaurs, tigers, panthers, deers, boars, porcupines and wild cats. In its heart lies the Parambiculam Dam, which is of good scenic beauty.
Important List of Wildlife Sanctuary and National Parks for Competitive Exam:
| Name | Location | Important Species |
| Bandipur National Park | Mysore, Karnataka | Elephant, Tiger, and Bear |
| Balpakram Sanctuary | Garo Hills, Meghalaya | Tiger, Elephant, Bison |
| Chandraprabha Sanctuary | Varanasi, U.P | Asiatic Lion, Tiger, Panther, Indian Gazelle, Sloth Bear |
| Corbett National Park | Nainital, Uttrakhand | Elephant, Tiger, Sloth Bear, Nilgai, Panther, Sambhar |
| Dachigam Sanctuary | Jammu & Kashmir | Kashmir stag (Hangul) |
| Dudhwa National Park | Lakhimpur Kheri, U.P | Tiger, Panther, Sambhar, Nilgai |
| Ghana Bird Sanctuary | Bharatpur, Rajasthan | Siberian crane, Spoonbill, Heron teal, Stork |
| Gir National Park | Junagarh, Gujrat | Asiatic Lion, Panther, Sambhar, Nilgai, Crocodile, rhinoceros |
| Hazaribagh National Park | Hazaribagh, Jharkhand | Tiger, Leopard, Sambher, Chital |
| Kanha National Park | Mandla and Balaghat, MP | Tiger, Panther, Antelope, Barking Deer, Nilgai |
| Kaziranga National Park | Jorhat, Assam | Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Wild Buffalo, Sambhar, Tiger |
| Manas | Barpeta, Assam | Tiger, Elephant, Panther, Wild Buffalo, one-horned Rhinoceros |
| Mudumalai Sanctuary | Nilgiri hills, Tamil Nadu | Elephant, Dear, Pigs |
| Namdapha National Park | Tirap Dist, Arunachal Pradesh | Tiger, Elephant |
| Palamau | Daltonganj, Jharkhand | Tiger, Elephant, Panther, Leopard |
| Parkal | Warangal, AP | Tiger, Panther, Chitals, Nilgai |
| Periyar | Idukki, Kerala | Tiger, Elephant, Panther, Wild boar, Gaur, Sambhar |
| Ranganthitoo Bird Sanctuary | Karnataka | Birds |
| Shivpuri National Park | Shivpuri, MP | Tiger, Birds |
| Sunderbans | West Bengal | Tiger, wild Boar, Crocodile, Deer, Birds |
| Vedanthangal Bird Sandtuary | Tamil Nadu | Birds |
| Wild Ass Sanctuary | Little Rann of Kutch, Gujrat | Wild Ass, Wolf, Nilgai, Chinkara |
| Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary | Valmiki, Bihar | Birds |
