Madhya Pradesh lies in Central of India. It geographically located on Highlands of Central India and Deccan trap. Here two major mountain ranges are Vindhyan range and Satpura range. They have many other subsidiary mountain ranges, covering vast land area. Major wildlife of Madhya Prades is conserved in natural forest, spread over these mountain ranges and river valleys. The location and physiographic conditions of state, greately influence its climatic characteristics. As per geographical condition, we can broadly divide the state into three sections i.e Northern Madhya Pradesh, South-East Madhya Pradesh and South-West Madhya Pradesh. Here Northern Madhya Pradesh is more rocky and arid region and comes under Bundelkhand region. Where as South-West Madhya Pradesh is located on Malwa plateau thus it is comparatively more flat with few hilly regions. Lastly South-East Madhya Pradesh comes where we can find good presence of mountain ranges thus major forest areas are located on this region. When it comes to Flora & Fauna of Madhya Pradesh, we can say that South-East region is rich in wildlife. Other two regions are also having presence of wildlife but comparatively less.
Here in Madhya Pradesh, we can find four major forest types i.e. Trophical Dry forest, Trophical Thorn forest, Sub-trophical Broad hill-forest and Trophical Moist forest. major concentration of Floral and Faunal species in its forest region i.e. tiger reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, reserve forests. In Satpura mountain ranges, we can find wildlife destinations like Kanha tiger reserve, Pench tiger reserve, Satpura tiger reserve etc. Where as in Vindhya range, we can find Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, Panna tiger reserve, Sanjay Dubri tiger reserve etc. As per report of Zoological Survey of India, which includes the complete list of 1421 species of animals, related to 30 groups ranging from Protozoa to Mammalia. This includes 737 species of invertebrates. As this data is collected till year 2000 thus it covers Chattisgarh forests also. Some of the major faunal species and their approx. count is:
S.No | Group | Count |
- | INVERTEBRATES | - |
1 | Annelida | 4 |
2 | Scorpiones | 2 |
3 | Solifugae | 2 |
4 | Opiliones | 1 |
5 | Araneae (Spiders) | 64 |
6 | Prostigmata (Plant mites of Tetranychidae family) | 12 |
7 | Mesostigmata (Plant mites of Phytoseidae) | 3 |
8 | Crustacea (includes Ostracodes) | 12 |
9 | Odonata (includes: Drangonflies, damselfies) | 38 |
10 | Plecoptera (includes: Stoneflies of family Perlidae) | 1 |
11 | Orthoptera (includes: Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, mole crickets and grouse locusts) | 71 |
12 | Phasmida (includes:Leaf and stick insects) | 1 |
13 | Dermaptera(includes: Earwigs) | 11 |
14 | Dictyoptera(includes: Cockroaches) | 12 |
15 | Mantodea(includes: Carnivore insects called Praying mantids) | 1 |
16 | Isoptera(includes: Termites) | 20 |
17 | Mallophaga(includes:Ectoparasites of birds and mammals) | 1 |
18 | Hemiptera(includes: small & medium sized true bugs) | 43 |
19 | Thusanoptera(includes:small insects called thrips) | 1 |
20 | Coleoptera(includes:Beetles) | 170 |
21 | Siphonoptera (includes:wingless insects with piercing & sucking type mouth parts) | 1 |
22 | Diptera (includes:mosquitoes, midges and flies) | 33 |
23 | Lepidoptera (includes:small & large size insects like Butterflies, moths etc.) | 193 |
24 | Hymenoptera (includes:small & large size insects with 2 pairs of veined or veinless wings or wingless) | 14 |
25 | Mollusca (includes:soft-bodies animals like snails, mussells, slugs etc.) | 26 |
- | VERTEBRATES | - |
26 | Freshwater Fishes | 96 |
27 | Amphibia | 10 |
28 | Reptilia | 50 |
29 | Birds | 442 |
30 | Mammals | 86 |
- | TOTAL | 1421 |
STATEHOOD
After Independence, all the states signed the instruments of accession in to the Indian Union & on 28th May, 1948 a new state, Madhya Bharat came into existence with Indore & Gwalior as its capital. In the north, as the result of merger of 35 princely states of Bundelkhand & Baghelkhand, Vindhya Pradesh cane into being in April 1948 & in 1952, an elected ministry was formed with Rewa as its capital.In the North, as the result of merger of 35 princely of Bundelkhand & Baghelkhand, Vindhya Pradesh came into being in April 1948 & in 1952 an elected ministry was formed with Rewa as its capital. The state of Bhopal came into existence in June, 1949 & only in 1952 a popular ministry was formed. The state of Madhya Pradesh formed on 1st November 1956 was a conglomeration of Mahakosal, Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh, Bhopal state & Seronj sub division of the Kota District of Rajasthan. On 1st November 2001 Chhatisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. At present comprises of 45 district which are further subdivided into 264 tehsils & is the second largest state in India.
The life style, culture & customs of this community mostly resemble the Hindu religion though they still strongly believe in orthodox traditions. Gond is the best known tribe & forms the largest group in Madhya Pradesh. Bhils, the second largest tribe are largely concentrated in the area around Jhabua, Khargone, Dhar & Ratlam. Baigas believe themselves to be descendants of Dravid & this backward tribe is found in Mandla, balaghat, Shahdol & Sidhi District. Bharia tribe has major concentration in Jabalpur & Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.Korku tribal community is administered by the head of a panchayat (called Sarpanch) & they are found in Hoshangabad, Betul, Chhindwara, Harda & Khandwa districts of Madhya Pradesh. Santia is a tribe of Malwawho believe themselves to be originally a martial Rajput tribe. Lesser known tribe like Dhanuk, Panika, Saur still form an important group.