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The
Keoladeo Ghana National Park as many people prefer to call it. the
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary lies between two of India. s most historic cities,
Agra and Jaipur. This north Indian sanctuary is situated in the country. s
northwestern state of Rajasthan, about 190 km from the national capital of
Delhi. The name . Keoladeo. is derived from the name of an ancient Hindu temple
devoted to Lord Shiva in the sanctuary. s central zone while the Hindi term
'Ghana' implies dense, thick areas of forest cover.
This spectacular bird sanctuary is historical in its own way. The Maharaja
of Bharatpur is credited for its creation in 1890, though conservation was
the last thing on his mind. He got a large area enclosed with embankments
and further divided it with earthen dams called . bunds. creating a large
number of marshes and lakes. Thus, Bharatpur is mainly an artificial creation.
The government banned the indiscriminate shooting of birds in 1965. Conservation
efforts originally started by Dr. Salim Ali received a further impetus when
the area was deemed a national park in March 1982. In 1985,
Bharatpur
was accepted as a World Heritage Site.
Bharatpur hosts a variety of bird species from across the globe. Close to 380 species of birds are found in this 29 sq km stretch, approximately 10 sq km of which comprises of marshes and bogs. Rest of the area comprises of scrublands, grasslands and more than 44,000 trees that are used for nesting by birds each year. This rather intriguing blend of marshes, woodland and flora found here represents and, at the same time, substantiates the density and diversity of the region. s forest cover.
Siberian Crane
Over
350 species of birds find a refuge in the 29 sq km of shallow lakes and woodland,
which makes up the park. A third of them are migrants, many of whom spend
their winters in Bharatpur, before returning to their breeding grounds, as
far away as Siberia and Central Asia. Migratory birds at Keoladeo include,
as large a bird as Dalmatian pelican, which is slightly less than two meters,
and as small a bird as Siberian disky leaf warbler, which is the size of a
finger. Other migrants include several species of cranes, pelicans, geese,
ducks, eagles, hawks, shanks, stints, wagtails, warblers, wheatears, flycatchers,
buntings, larks and pipits, etc.
But of all the migrants, the most sought after is the Siberian Crane or the
great white crane, which migrates to this site every year, covering a distance
of more than half the globe. These birds, numbering only a few hundred, are
on the verge of extinction. It is birds from the western race of the species,
that visit Keoladeo, migrating from the Ob river basin region, in the Aral
mountains, in Siberia via Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are only two wintering
places, left for this extremely rare species.One is in Feredunkenar in Iran,
and the other is Keoladeo Ghana. The journey to Bharatpur takes them 6,400
kms from their breeding grounds, in Siberia. They arrive in December and stay
till early March. Unlike Indian cranes, the Siberian crane is entirely vegetarian.
It feeds on
underground
aquatic roots and tubers in loose flocks of five or six..
Wildlife India:- Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Camel Safari, Desert National Sanctuary, Ranthambore Wildlife, Sariska Wildlife
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