Last reviewed 30 Sept 2026 · Facts as of 30 Sept 2026 · 11 min read
A note on figures. The numbers of national parks, sanctuaries, tiger reserves and Ramsar sites keep growing as new areas are notified. The counts below are approximate for the period shown; use the latest Ministry of Environment (MoEFCC) or Ramsar list for exact figures.
Protected area categories
| Category | Main features |
|---|---|
| National Park | strictly protected; no human activity such as grazing, hunting or forestry; boundaries fixed by law; declared by the state government (with a Central role) under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. About 100+ in India. |
| Wildlife Sanctuary | protects wildlife but allows some activities (limited grazing, collection of minor forest produce) if not harmful; easier to declare and boundaries may be changed. About 500+. |
| Conservation Reserve and Community Reserve | added by the 2002 amendment; on government land / community-owned land with community participation. |
| Biosphere Reserve | a large area of terrestrial or coastal ecosystems set up under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, aiming at conservation with sustainable use. Three zones: core (protected), buffer, transition (manipulation). |
| Tiger Reserve | under Project Tiger; core (critical tiger habitat) and buffer zone; managed with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) (statutory since 2005–06). |
| Elephant Reserve | under Project Elephant. |
| Ramsar site | a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (1971). |
| World Heritage Site (natural) | UNESCO's list (Kaziranga, Manas, Keoladeo, Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers, Sundarbans, Western Ghats, Great Himalayan National Park, Khangchendzonga). |
Key laws and bodies
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — hunting banned; Schedules I–VI (Schedule I gives the highest protection: tiger, lion, elephant, rhino, snow leopard, etc.). Amended in 2002 and 2022 (reducing schedules and implementing CITES).
- Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (diversion of forest land needs central approval); Forest Rights Act, 2006; Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai); Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; National Green Tribunal Act, 2010; CAMPA (compensatory afforestation).
- CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species); CBD; Ramsar; IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) publishes the Red List.
- Wildlife Institute of India — Dehradun; Zoological Survey of India — Kolkata; Botanical Survey of India — Kolkata; Forest Survey of India — Dehradun; Central Zoo Authority — Delhi.
Important National Parks (by state)
| National park | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Corbett | Uttarakhand | India's first national park (1936, as Hailey National Park); tiger; the first Project Tiger reserve (1973) |
| Kaziranga | Assam | one-horned rhinoceros; UNESCO World Heritage Site (1985); the Brahmaputra floodplain; also tigers, wild buffalo, swamp deer |
| Manas | Assam | tiger reserve; elephant reserve; UNESCO site; golden langur, pygmy hog |
| Ranthambore | Rajasthan | tigers; ruined fort |
| Sariska | Rajasthan | tiger relocation programme |
| Keoladeo Ghana (Bharatpur) | Rajasthan | birds (Siberian cranes historically); Ramsar site and World Heritage Site |
| Desert National Park | Rajasthan | great Indian bustard |
| Bandhavgarh | Madhya Pradesh | white tigers (Rewa) history; a high tiger density |
| Kanha | Madhya Pradesh | tiger; barasingha (hard-ground swamp deer); the setting of Kipling's Jungle Book |
| Pench, Satpura, Panna | Madhya Pradesh | tiger reserves |
| Gir | Gujarat | the only home of the Asiatic lion (about 700+ in recent counts) |
| Bandipur, Nagarhole (Rajiv Gandhi) | Karnataka | tigers, elephants; part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve |
| Periyar | Kerala | elephant and tiger reserve; boating on the lake |
| Silent Valley | Kerala | lion-tailed macaque; saved from a hydel project in 1980s |
| Eravikulam | Kerala | Nilgiri tahr; neelakurinji flowers |
| Mudumalai | Tamil Nadu | elephants |
| Guindy | Tamil Nadu (Chennai) | a national park in a city; blackbuck |
| Bhitarkanika | Odisha | saltwater crocodiles; Olive Ridley turtles at nearby Gahirmatha beach (the largest nesting site); mangroves; Ramsar |
| Simlipal | Odisha | tigers; the black tiger (melanistic); biosphere reserve |
| Chilika Lake (Nalabana Bird Sanctuary) | Odisha | the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia; Irrawaddy dolphins; migratory birds; the first Indian Ramsar site (with Keoladeo, 1981) |
| Sundarbans | West Bengal | Royal Bengal tigers, mangroves; largest delta and mangrove forest; UNESCO site; Ramsar |
| Jaldapara, Gorumara | West Bengal | rhinos |
| Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers | Uttarakhand | high-altitude flowers; World Heritage Site |
| Rajaji | Uttarakhand | elephants |
| Great Himalayan National Park | Himachal Pradesh | World Heritage Site (2014) |
| Hemis | Ladakh | the largest national park in India by area; snow leopard |
| Dachigam | Jammu & Kashmir | hangul (Kashmir stag) |
| Namdapha | Arunachal Pradesh | the only park where all four big cats — tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard — are found; red panda |
| Dibru-Saikhowa | Assam | feral horses; white-winged wood duck |
| Keibul Lamjao | Manipur | the world's only floating national park; sangai (brow-antlered deer) on Loktak Lake |
| Blackbuck NP (Velavadar) | Gujarat | blackbuck |
| Marine National Park | Gujarat (Gulf of Kutch), Andaman (Mahatma Gandhi Marine NP) | corals; the first marine NP in India (Gulf of Kutch, 1982) |
| Sanjay Gandhi NP (Borivali) | Maharashtra (Mumbai) | leopards; a city national park |
| Tadoba-Andhari | Maharashtra | tigers |
| Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam | Telangana/Andhra | the largest tiger reserve in India by area |
| Kuno | Madhya Pradesh | the site where cheetahs were reintroduced in 2022 (from Namibia and South Africa) — Project Cheetah |
| Nameri | Assam | white-winged duck |
| Anamudi Shola, Mukurthi | Kerala, Tamil Nadu | Nilgiri tahr |