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Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary is known             Gir Forest National Park
                    for its Bengal tigers and is one of the best
                                                                        Gir Forest National Park is the home of
                    places in India to see these animals in their       the Asiatic lions and is located in Gujarat.
                    natural jungle habitat.
                                                                        Th  e thick and undisturbed forests make it a
                    Kaziranga National Park                             perfect sanctuary for wild animals such as the

                    Th  is World Heritage Site is a national park       spotted deer, sambar, nilgai and antelope.
                    that is an ideal habitat for the rare one-
                    horned rhinoceros. It is located on the banks
                    of the Brahmaputra in Assam. Th  is is also a
                    paradise for bird watchers as migratory birds
                    make their way to this place during winters in
                    large numbers.

                    Sundarbans
                    Unlike other national parks where tourists
                    travel to the heart of the wilderness by jeeps,
                    here, boats glide through creeks and rivulets
                    bordered with mangrove forests. Sundarbans,
                    the world’s largest estuarine forest and delta,               Blue bull or nilgai of the Gir Forest
                    is situated on the lower end of the Gangetic
                    West Bengal.



                    creek: a narrow, sheltered waterway, especially an inlet in a shoreline or channel in a marsh
                    rivulet: a very small river or stream
                    estuary: the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream



                     Let’s Recall

                     •   The varied relief features of India make its climate varied.

                     •   Factors that impact the Indian climate are wind reversal, atmospheric pressure, rainfall and
                         the Himalayas.

                     •   Though there is a variation in the climatic conditions of India, there is an underlying
                         thread which unifi es these conditions. The sequence of hot, wet and cold seasons aff ects
                         the lifestyles and economic activities of the people throughout India.
                     •   Natural vegetation in India is generally classifi ed into tropical evergreen rainforests,
                         deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests, semi-desert and desert vegetation, tidal or
                         mangrove forests  and mountain forests.
                     •   India’s forest policy requires that there should be 60 per cent forest cover in the hills and
                         20 per cent in the plains.
                     •   More than 89,000 animal species and 1,200 species of birds are found in India.
                     •   The government has taken steps such as setting up sanctuaries and national parks for the
                         preservation of fl ora and fauna.



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