Wildlife of
Uttar Pradesh

Primary Threats

• In the Gangetic Plain, small wetlands, riverbanks, ravines, and forest patches remain after long conversion to farming and settlement. In the Terai, tall grasslands and floodplain wetlands used by swamp deer, hog deer, and hispid hare face people and development, drainage, and edge damage near Dudhwa and Pilibhit.
• UP's very high cultivation intensity drives drainage of seasonal wetlands, conversion of floodplain grasslands, and removal of hedgerows/woodlots. Pesticide and fertilizer runoff from sugarcane, paddy, and wheat belts affects wetland birds and aquatic food webs; field-to-forest edges in the Terai increase crop-raiding conflict with deer, wild pig, and occasionally elephants.
• Rapid growth around NCR districts (Noida-Ghaziabad), Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi and peri-urban corridors converts wetlands and floodplain buffers into built-up land, increases light/noise disturbance for roosting birds, and sharply raises sewage loads entering the Ganga-Yamuna systems (notably around major confluences and drains).
• City sewage and factory waste (like tanneries) pollute the Ganga basin, cutting fish numbers and harming Ganges river dolphins and gharials. Farm chemicals cause weedy wetlands; carcass dumps and vet drugs hurt vultures.
• Flood-control embankments, barrages, canalization, and bank 'protection' works simplify river channels and disconnect floodplains-reducing sandbar nesting for gharials, skimmers/terns, and altering dolphin prey dynamics. In the Terai, river regulation and drainage change seasonal flooding regimes that maintain tall grassland succession inside and outside protected areas.
• Highways, rail lines, canals, and power infrastructure fragment Terai forests/grasslands and create mortality risk (vehicle/train collisions) for elephants, deer, and carnivores. Linear infrastructure also pinches movement corridors linking Pilibhit-Dudhwa-Katarniaghat and across the Nepal border, increasing conflict and isolating subpopulations.
• Unregulated sand and gravel digging in rivers like the Chambal and parts of the Ganga destroys nesting sandbars, raises water cloudiness, and wears away banks. This harms gharial nests, river bird colonies, and dolphin habitat and food areas.
• Heavy religious/tourism footfall along the Ganga-Yamuna, intense riverbank use (washing, boating, noise), and high visitation pressure in accessible sanctuaries (e.g., Okhla Bird Sanctuary near Delhi-NCR) disturb breeding/roosting waterbirds and can disrupt dolphin behavior. Livestock grazing and fuelwood collection on PA edges add chronic disturbance in the Terai.
• In the Terai mosaic, tigers and leopards (and occasionally elephants moving through corridors) come into close contact with dense rural settlements and livestock. Retaliation risk rises after livestock depredation and crop damage; conflict is also reported around sugarcane fields that provide cover for leopards, increasing encounters in western/central UP districts.
• While large-scale hunting is reduced in key protected areas, opportunistic killing and snaring still occur around forest-agriculture edges (deer, wild pig) and along river stretches (turtles/fish), sometimes as retaliation or for local consumption, undermining prey bases and riverine biodiversity.
• Trade pressures manifest through poaching of high-value species (tiger/leopard parts), capture/trafficking of turtles and other aquatic fauna from rivers and wetlands, and illegal bird trapping. UP's dense road network and proximity to inter-state trade routes can facilitate movement of contraband unless enforcement is sustained.
• Intensive fishing pressure and harmful gears in sections of the Ganga and its tributaries reduce prey availability for dolphins and gharials and increase bycatch risk. Competition for fish also heightens conflict between fishing communities and conservation measures in key dolphin/gharial reaches.
• Aquatic invasives like water hyacinth choke many UP wetlands (reducing open-water habitat for waterfowl and fish), while terrestrial invasives such as lantana can degrade understory and grassland edges in forested landscapes. These invasions are amplified by nutrient enrichment and disturbance, especially in peri-urban wetlands and Terai buffer zones.
• High livestock densities around Terai protected areas elevate risks of disease spillover (e.g., canine distemper in carnivores via feral/owned dogs; foot-and-mouth and other livestock diseases affecting wild ungulates). Disease risk is compounded by shared water points and grazing pressure along PA boundaries.
• More frequent heat extremes, erratic monsoon patterns, and intense flood pulses can destabilize river sandbars (affecting gharial nesting success), shift wetland hydroperiods, and increase drought-like drawdowns that concentrate pollutants. In the Terai, altered flooding can change grassland regeneration dynamics and push wildlife closer to farms during scarcity periods.
• Commercial logging is restricted in protected areas, but illegal felling and timber extraction pressures can persist in some Terai landscapes and buffer areas, reducing mature sal forest structure and increasing edge access for other threats (grazing, firewood collection, encroachment).
• Dependence on fuelwood, fodder, and grazing in forest fringes-especially around Terai reserves-degrades habitat quality and regeneration, increases human presence inside wildlife habitats, and can reduce prey availability for large carnivores.
• Fragmentation in the plains and pinch points in the Terai corridor network can isolate small subpopulations (e.g., swamp deer/hog deer in specialized grasslands; carnivore subunits between reserve blocks), raising long-term risks from reduced gene flow if connectivity is not maintained.