The Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo
Ghana National Park formerly known
as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary
in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is
a famous avifauna sanctuary that plays
host to thousands of birds especially
during the winter season. Over 230
species of birds are known to have
made the National Park their home.
It is also a major tourist centre
with scores of ornithologists arriving
here in the hibernal season. It was
declared a protected sanctuary in
1971. It is also a declared World
Heritage Site.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a
man-made and man-managed wetland and
one of the national parks of India.
The reserve protects Bharatpur from
frequent floods, provides grazing
grounds for village cattle and earlier
was primarily used as a waterfowl
hunting ground. The 29 km2 (11 sq
mi) reserve is locally known as Ghana,
and is a mosaic of dry grasslands,
woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands.
These diverse habitats are home to
366 bird species, 379 floral species,
50 species of fish, 13 species of
snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian
species,7 turtle species, and a variety
of other invertebrates. Every year
thousands of migratory waterfowl visit
the park for wintering breeding etc.
The Sanctuary is one of the richest
bird areas in the world. It is known
for nesting of its resident birds
and visiting migratory birds including
water birds. The rare Siberian cranes
used to winter in this park but this
central population of Siberian Cranes
is now extinct. According to Sir Peter
Scott Keoladeo Sanctuary is the world’s
best bird area.The sanctuary was created
250 years ago and is named after a
Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its
boundaries. Initially, it was a natural
depression; and was flooded after
the Ajan Bund was constructed by Maharaja
Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely
state of Bharatpur, between 1726–1763.
The bund was created at the confluence
of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga.
The park was a hunting ground for
the maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition
dating back to 1850, and duck shoots
were organised yearly in honor of
the British viceroys. In one shoot
alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such
as mallards and teals were killed
by Lord Linlithgow, the then Governor-General
of India.
The park was established as a national
park on 10 March 1982. Previously
the private duck shooting preserve
of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since
the 1850s, the area was designated
as a bird sanctuary on 13 March 1976
and a Ramsar site under the Wetland
Convention in October 1981. The last
big shoot was held in 1964 but the
Maharajah retained shooting rights
until 1972. In 1985, the Park was
declared a World Heritage Site under
the world Heritage Convention. It
is a reserve forest under the Rajasthan
Forest Act, 1953 and therefore, is
the property of the State of Rajasthan
of the Indian Union. In 1982, grazing
was banned in the park, leading to
violent clashes between local farmers
and the government.
The National Chambal
Sanctuary total area
of 1235 sq. km. is protected.The Chambal
River passes through three states:
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar
Pradesh. The Sanctuary was first designated
as a protected area in 1979 in an
attempt to revive the Gharial population
from ongoing poaching. It covers a
400 km stretch with a 1-5 km stretch
of mud cliffs on both sides of the
Chambal river ravines. is famous for
the rare Gangetic dolphin, gharial,
crocodiles and supports 8 of the 26
rare turtle species, largest population
of Gharial, Gangetic dolphin, nesting
of Indian Skimmers and more than 320
resident and migrant birds