07 December, 2025 – 13 December, 2025. Top pick of India’s threatened wildlife in photographs this week. Image copyright of the photographer.
Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) in rugged mountain terrain. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this elusive predator inhabits high-altitude landscapes threatened by climate change, prey loss, and human–wildlife conflict.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Photograph: Morup Namgail / Instagram
Read More: Why do Snow Leopards have such a long tail?
A rare moment of togetherness — a pair of Nilgiri Martens moving through the misty high forests of Mukurthi National Park. Endemic to the Western Ghats, this elusive carnivore is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, its future tied closely to the fate of these montane forests.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Photograph: Prakash Sara / Instagram
A male Barasingha (Swamp Deer) wades through the meadows of Kanha Tiger Reserve, carrying fresh foliage tangled in his antlers — a fleeting blend of strength and vulnerability. Once pushed to the brink of extinction in central India, the hard-ground Barasingha is now one of Kanha’s greatest conservation success stories.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Photograph: Trikansh Sharma / X
Framed by a silver mane and steady eyes, the lion-tailed macaque looks like it belongs to another time. Found only in the rainforests of the Western Ghats, this Endangered species depends on dense, unbroken canopy to survive. Habitat fragmentation has pushed many groups into shrinking forest patches, isolating families and threatening their future.
Conservation Status: Endangered
Photograph: Ishan Shanavas / Instagram
Read More: Rare Lion Tailed Macaque Seen for the First Time in Kaiga Forest
In the quiet waters of the Western Ghats, an elephant calf discovers the world one splash at a time. Play is how young elephants learn — about water, balance, confidence, and trust — under the watchful presence of the herd.
Conservation Status: Endangered
Photograph: Prakash Sara / Instagram
This tiger cub was photographed by a school student while returning home in Chongay forest, just 8km from Gangtok, Sikkim. This was a rare sightings as cubs are not usually seen so close to human habitats.
Conservation Status: Endangered
Photograph: India Today NE
A bonded pair of Great Hornbills lift their bills skyward, calling across the forest canopy. These calls are not just sound — they are signals of partnership, territory, and continuity in a world built on tall trees and long memories.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Photograph: Sachin Pawar / Instagram
A melanistic leopard rests by the water, while a spotted counterpart watches from above.
In the forests of the Western Ghats, black leopards are not a separate species but a rare genetic expression — one that survives best in dense, shaded landscapes.
Moments like these are fleeting, and increasingly fragile.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Photograph: Joshua Raj / Instagram
Read More: Saving India’s Leopards is Not the Same as Saving India’s Tigers
The Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul), also known as Manul, often mistaken for softness — is built for cold, wind, and isolation. Its dense fur, flattened face, and low-set ears reduce heat loss and keep it hidden from predators in open alpine terrain.
Rarely seen and poorly understood, this small wild cat lives alone, hunting pikas and rodents across rocky slopes where few others persist in Ladakh.
Conservation Status: Least Concern, but rare in India
Photograph: Caramjeet / Instagram
(All photographic content is © by the respective photographers. Images are published here with proper credit and are intended solely for non-commercial sharing. Any further use requires permission from the copyright holder.)
