Animal Life

Goa has more than 50 species of animals. Unfortunately, to spot some of these precious inhabitants, you have to visit the deep jungles. Spot animals like leopards, monkeys, deer, leopard cat, Indian civet, the gaur or Indian bison, the sloth bear, the Indian porcupine, the pangolin, the slender loris, the wild boar, and the mongoose on such trips.
Monkeys are found all across Goa. The most common species is the pink-bottomed macaque followed by the hanuman langur. Goa has four species of bats, the fruit bat, the Dormers bat, the horseshoe bat, and the Malay fox vampire.
Goa has numerous Flying foxes found in the rural interior areas. The Indian giant squirrel, the smaller three-striped squirrel, and the five-striped palm squirrel are seen in many areas.
The cheetah or spotted axis deer, the sambar, the barking deer, and the mouse deer are some of the deer species in Goa. The smaller deer are preyed on by predators: the striped hyena, the jackal, and the wild dog.

Long-beaked dolphins are often seen in the shallow waters of Goa’s more isolated beaches.

Reptiles & Amphibians

Goa has a large reptilian/amphibian population. It includes the ubiquitous common house gecko, the chameleon, a variety of frogs, and the rare monitor lizard. Two species of crocodiles are found along the banks of a few inland waterways.
Goa has twenty-three species of snakes. The non-poisonous include the common blind snake, the Russell sand boa, the Indian python, the Indian wart snake, trinket snake, Indian rat snake, golden tree snake, common wolf snake, chequered keelback, striped keelback, Indian gamma, and common green whip snake.
The venomous snakes in Goa are the cobras, including the king cobra, the common Indian krait, the coral snake, Russell’s viper, the saw-scaled viper, and the bamboo pit viper.

Freshwater turtles and rare marine turtles like the Olive Ridley, which come ashore between October and December to lay their eggs in the sand are also found in Goa.