Rare and Endangered Animals

According to one estimate, 285 species of Vertebrate are reported to be endemic to Western Ghats, which include 12 mammals, 16 birds, 89 reptiles, 87 amphibians, and 84 fresh water fishes. Among large mammals, no species is endemic to Kerala. However, birds such as White breasted laughing thrush, Wayanad laughing thrush, White bellied shortwing, Southern treepie, Rufous babbler are possible endemic birds which may slightly overlap state boundaries in the southern Western Ghats. 

High diversity area like West Malaysia has only about 10 endemic snakes, whereas the South West India has about 55. Among reptiles, Cochin forest cane turtle and Travancore tortoise are endemic to evergreen forests of southern Western Ghats. Arboreal agamid genera Otocryptis and Salea and the rare endemic genus of burrowing snake, Xylophus and others of the family Uropeltidae have been accorded high conservation value. 


The monotypic agamid genus Dravidogecko is reported from Anamalais only. Thirty species of lizards are reported endemic to Western Ghats which include Calotes rouxi, Cnemaspis sisparensis, C.wynadensis and Chalcides pentadactylus. Out of 57 endemic snakes in the Western Ghats four species viz., Boiga dightsni, Melanophidum bilineatum, Plectrurus aurenus and Rhinophis fergusonianus are endemic to Kerala and adjacent forests. 

The southern Western Ghats have probably 40 species of endemic tree frogs. Among Amphibia, Bufonidae has five, Microhylidae one, Ranidae 14, Rhacophoridae four and Gymnophiona, the caecilian, five.

Of the endemic amphibian genera of the Western Ghats i.e., Nannobatrachus, Nyctibatrachus, Melahobatrachus and Uraeotyphlus, the notable species endemic to Kerala are Melanobatrachus indicus, Nannobatrachus anamallaiensis, Nyctibatrachus, Nyctibatrachus major, N. phygameus, Uraeotyphlus malabaricus and U. menoni. Among fish fauna, species like Lepidopygopsus typus, Hysilobarbus kurali , have been reported to be endemic to southern Western Ghats. In a recent survey of the stream fishes in the Kerala segment of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve 58 species with 25 species endemic to Western Ghats were reported from the streams in Wayanad. 

Butterflies, unlike birds are restricted in distribution and about 61 species are shared endemics between Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.