Difference Between Wildlife Sanctuary And National Park

The diverse variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms living in a particular region is known as biodiversity. Biodiversity or the richness of species in one region differs from another region. The plants and animals that live in a natural habitat are mutually dependent and play an important role in maintaining the environment around us. Thus, biodiversity is essential for our survival but several causes threaten the survival of certain species. Some of these causes are:

1. Deforestation- Deforestation refers to the clearing of forests over a large area for mining, industrial purposes, or agricultural land.
2. Illegal Hunting- Hunting of certain animals has been marked illegal by the government. The hunting of tigers, whales, elephants, etc for their body parts can lead to the extinction of the species.
3. Natural Disasters- Natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and droughts can also contribute to the reduction of plant and animal species in many areas.
4. Pollution- Soil, air, and water pollution can adversely affect many plants and animals.

As we previously discussed that the components of the environment are inter-dependent, a change in one component may affect all the components. So, it is important to conserve biodiversity for our survival and also for maintaining the natural ecological balance. The government has launched several programs and laws to protect forests and wildlife and some measures which can be taken include:

1. Afforestation- Afforestation refers to the planting of trees in a forest.
2. Hunting Regulations- The govt. laws should be strictly implemented and hunting should be banned.
3. Preventing forest fires- Forest fires should be checked by using advanced techniques.
4. Habitat protection- Natural habitats should be preserved by establishing protected areas like wildlife sanctuaries and national parks where animals can grow in natural surroundings.

Though wildlife sanctuaries and national parks are both protected areas, they’re quite different in their ways like:

Wildlife Sanctuary: Wildlife sanctuaries are areas strictly reserved for wildlife protection in their natural habitat. They don’t allow human activities that might disturb the animals, thus collecting minor forest produce is allowed. It doesn’t have any boundaries and such sanctuaries provide a home to certain threatened wild animals to ensure that their species doesn’t end. There are over 500 wildlife sanctuaries in India. For example, Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Rajasthan, the only place in India where Siberian cranes are found; Sultanpur Lake Bird Sanctuary, Haryana, and Bandipur Sanctuary, Karnataka, known for Indian elephants.

National Park: National parks are large areas protected and maintained by the government to preserve the wildlife that only allows tourism and no other activities. There are over 100 national parks in India. For example, Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, famous for tigers; Kaziranga National Park, Assam, famous for one-horned rhinoceroses; Gir National Park, Gujarat, famous for Asiatic lions and Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, famous for tigers.

Thus, there are several measures by which we can save biodiversity. So, let’s save biodiversity and save ourselves.