There are only about 1,850 Indian rhinoceros living in the wild, and the populations are mostly found in the Kaziranga and Orang National Parks in India. Nearly 90 percent of the wild population lives in the Kaziranga National Park. The main reason why the Indian rhinoceros is endangered due to its horn, which is believed to be an aphrodisiac and is used in various Asian medicines.
Asian white-backed vultures were a common site, until the 1990s, when large numbers of the vultures started to die due to poisoning. It is suspected that the poisoning is a result of the vultures feeding on dead cattle treated with an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac, which is poisonous to wildlife.
There are about 15,000 to 20,000 Asian elephants living in the wild, mostly in India's terai regions of Utter Pradesh, Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Karnataka. Asian elephant are endangered due to loss of habitat and poaching for ivory, meat and hides. In addition, Asian elephants are often falsely accused of crop damages, which makes it legal for farmers to kill them to protect their property.
There are about 7,500 leopards living in the wild, mostly in jungles in central and northeast parts of the country. Snow leopards, who are almost extinct, can only be found on the mountainsides of the Himalayas. The main reasons for leopards' endangered status are poaching for pelts, loss of habitat, human population pressure on wildlife reserves and loss of prey. In addition, snow leopard bones and other body parts are used in traditional Asian medicine, and domestic livestock owners kill snow leopards to protect their animals.
There are only 352 Asiatic lions living in the wild, and the only population is found at the Gir National Park. Because the entire population is found in only one small area, Asiatic lions are extremely vulnerable to any kind of threats from biological, climatic or human-caused changes to their habitat. Just one disease--or any other kind of disaster--could wipe out the entire species.
