Wildlife of the Western Ghats

A wall that catches the rain

The Western Ghats run down the edge of peninsular India, from the hills of Gujarat and Maharashtra through Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala into Tamil Nadu. Monsoon winds off the Arabian Sea strike this wall first. The west slope is wet. The Deccan behind it is drier because the hills have already taken the cloud.

That single fact explains a great deal of the life here. Where rain is heavy and the slopes are steep, forest can stay green, streams can run, and animals that need shade can last. Break the slope, and the rain runs off instead of staying.