<P> The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo - daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment . The varied and rich wildlife of India has had a profound impact on the region's popular culture . The word has been also made famous in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling . India's wildlife has been the subject of numerous other tales and fables such as the Panchatantra . </P> <P> India is home to several well - known large mammals, including the Asian elephant, Bengal and Indochinese tigers, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, Indian sloth bear and Indian rhinoceros . Some other well - known large Indian mammals are: ungulates such as the rare wild Asian water buffalo, common domestic Asian water buffalo, gail, gaur, and several species of deer and antelope . Some members of the dog family, such as the Indian wolf, Bengal fox and golden jackal, and the dhole or wild dogs are also widely distributed . However, the dhole, also known as the whistling hunter, is the most endangered top Indian carnivore, and the Himalayan wolf is now a critically endangered species endemic to India . It is also home to the striped hyena, macaques, langur and mongoose species . </P> <P> There are about 17500 taxa of flowering plants from India . The Indian Forest Act, 1927 helped to improve protection of the natural habitat . Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic . </P> <P> India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya . Between these extremes lie the sal - dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; teak - dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul - dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain . Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies . </P>

India is inhabited by a variety of animal life