Goa Wildlife
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The rugged Western Ghats make it an ideal haven for many species of birds and animals and also provide a corridor for migration. The western ghats called the Sahyadris in Goa, extend for a total of 600 kms in Goa of their total length of 3702 kms. The widest belt of forests along the western Ghats is in Goa and neighbouring Karnataka state. The coastal areas provide the tropical backdrop. There are several plants and trees unique to Goa and some introduced by the Portuguese, most famous of which is the green Chillies, which today has become an essential ingredient in the Indian Curry. Average rainfall is over 500 mm along the western ghats and a little less elsewhere. The length of the dry season averages from 5 to 6 months. For all these reasons, the dominant vegetation is of the moist decidous type.

Goa is endowed with over 1512 documented species of plants, over 275 genera of birds, over 48 genera of animals and over 60 genera of reptiles. About 10% of Goa is set aside as wildlife reserve and this area includes four large wildlife sanctuaries.

villages in a bewildering range of colours and sizes. During the period before the monsoons, most of these are in full bloom, lending Goa a colourful look. Among the other trees that are found in abundance are the banyan, the peepal, sisso or martel, kharanj and teak.

Animals
There are almost fifty species of mammals found in Goa. Among the animals found here are the leopard, monkeys, cheetal or spotted axis deer, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, leopard cat, Indian civet, gaur or Indian bison, sloth bear, Indian porcupine, pangolin, slender loris, wild boar, striped hyena, jackal, wild dog and mongoose. Goa has four species of bats. Flying foxes are also present in large numbers. Most of these are found in the rural interior areas. The Indian giant squirrel, the smaller three-striped squirrel and the five-striped palm squirrel are also found in most areas. Long-beaked dolphins are quite often seen in the shallow waters of Goa's more isolated beaches. Goa has a large reptilian/amphibian population. This includes the ubiquitous common house gecko, a variety of frogs and the quite rare monitor lizard. Two species of crocodile are mostly found along the banks of a few inland waterways. Twenty-three species of snakes are found in Goa. Some of the snakes are common blind snake, the Russell sand boa, the Indian python, the Indian wart snake, trinket snake, Indian rat snake, golden tree snake. Among the few venomous snakes in Goa are the king cobra, the common Indian krait, the coral snake, the Russell's viper, the saw-scaled viper and the bamboo pit viper. Freshwater turtles and rare marine turtles which come ashore between October and December to lay their eggs in the sand are also found in Goa. More...

little egret and herons are most common in the paddy fields along with cows and buffaloes. The beautiful whitebellied fish eagle, the Brahminy kite and the pariah kite are birds of prey found around towns and fishing villages. House crows, jackdaws, king vultures and the white-backed vulture are also seen in most areas. In the state's forests are found the grey hornbill, the Indian pied hornbill and the magnificent great pied hornbill, the lesser goldenback woodpecker, the Indian great black woodpecker, the red junglefowl.