Bandhavgarh National Park, India Photograph by WWF/ Martin Harvey   Extends across the eastern Indian states of Bihar, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh. Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests   22,500 square miles (58,300 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Pennsylvania Critical/Endangered

· Setting the Scene
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern

Setting the Scene

Sit quietly with your back against a teak tree, with the bright sunlight pouring in through the open forest, and look around you. In broad daylight you arenāt likely to see the forestās most famous inhabitants, the tigers, because they prefer to hunt between dusk and dawn. But there are many other species of wildlife to be seen, such as Indian gray hornbills and the sloth bear.

Special Features

Located in the rain shadow of the Eastern Ghats Mountain Range, this ecoregion is an "island" of dry deciduous forests surrounded by wetter forests. Although it is not as rich in species variety as some other areas, nor does it contain many endemic species, it is important for harboring sloth bears, tigers, and several other species of large animals.

	Indian gray hornbills and Oriental pied-hornbills nest only in tall, mature trees. These trees are becoming harder for hornbills to find as the forests are cleared.

Wild Side

In the forests, scrublands, and grasslands of this ecoregion are 260 species of birds, including the large hornbills. Chousinghas, small Indian antelopes, feed mainly on grass in the open forests and savannas. Tigers and groups of wild dogs, or dholes, prey upon the antelopes and other mammals. Sloth bears roam the forests looking for termites and honey.

Cause for Concern

In many areas of this ecoregion the forest habitat has been degraded by intensive livestock grazing or cleared for growing crops. Less than one-fourth of the natural habitat remains. Wildlife poaching by local tribal communities is a continuing problem, as is their extensive use of forest products such as bamboo shoots, silk cocoons, wild mangos, mushrooms, roots, and tubers.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.