Top 10 UNESCO Sites With The Most Unique Animals Around The World

OT Staff & Waquar Habib

Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Home to giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and equatorial penguins, the Galápagos offer unmatched biodiversity shaped by isolation, inspiring Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Galápagos Penguin at the Galápagos Islands | brookepykephotography/instagram

Komodo National Park, Indonesia

The park shelters Komodo dragons—the world’s largest venomous lizards—alongside wild boars, buffalo and vibrant coral reef species, creating a Jurassic-like ecosystem across volcanic islands.

A komodo dragon | Shutterstock

Sundarbans National Park, India

This mangrove forest hosts swimming Bengal tigers, estuarine crocodiles, fishing cats and rare river dolphins, thriving in brackish waters and tidal creeks.

A tiger bathing in a marsh at Sundarbans National Park | Shutterstock

Kaziranga National Park, India

Kaziranga boasts the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses, plus swamp deer, wild elephants and migratory birds like pelicans and storks during winter.

Indo Chinese roller birds at Kaziranga National Park | Shutterstock

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, India

A biodiversity hotspot, Manas protects pygmy hogs, golden langurs, clouded leopards and wild water buffalo, blending grasslands and forests along the Himalayan foothills.

A Collared Flaconet in Manas Wildlife Sanctuary | Shutterstock

Western Ghats, India

This mountain range harbours lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri tahrs, endemic frogs and vibrant butterflies, making it one of the world’s eight “hottest hotspots” of biodiversity.

A Nilgiri Tahr stands at the edge of a mountain, Valparai, India | Shutterstock

Tsingy de Bemaraha, Madagascar

Sharp limestone formations shelter indri lemurs, bats, colourful chameleons and rare amphibians, thriving in a surreal karst landscape unlike any other on Earth.

At Tsingy de Bemaraha, Madagascar | madagascarexperience/instagram

Okavango Delta, Botswana

Seasonal floods transform desert into wetlands, attracting elephants, lions, leopards, hippos and over 400 bird species, making it Africa’s most dynamic wildlife spectacle.

Scenes from Okavango Delta, Botswana | kamranonbike/instagram

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The reef supports over 1,500 fish species, sea turtles, dugongs and reef sharks, forming the planet’s largest coral ecosystem visible even from space.

A variety of corals form an outcrop on Flynn Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Queensland, Australia | Toby Hudson/Wikimedia Commons

Doñana National Park, Spain

A sanctuary for the endangered Iberian lynx, imperial eagles and migrating birds, Doñana’s marshes and dunes offer critical refuge for Europe’s rarest fauna.

A shot of an Iberian lynx | michel_zoghzoghi/instagram

Top 10 Animals To Spot In Jim Corbett National Park

A Yellow-throated marten at Jim Corbett | jimcorbettnationalparkofficial/instagram
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