Keoladeo National Park, Bird Haven: Near Ranthambore National Park

One of the most significant bird breeding and feeding grounds in the world is the Keoladeo National Park, previously the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary. In the 1850s, it was established as a royal hunting reserve and used by the British and Maharajas as a game reserve. In actuality, thousands of ducks were shot in a single day by Lord Linlithgow, who served as Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943, and his hunting party!

About 370 different animal and bird species can be found in the park, including Nilgai, painted storks, deer, and basking pythons. Renowned Indian naturalist and ornithologist Salim Ali used his influence to convince the government to authorize the establishment of Keoladeo National Park. Additionally, it was identified as a habitat for the extremely rare and challenging-to-spot Siberian crane. Keoladeo National Park offers well-defined walks that can be done on foot, by bicycle, or by rickshaw. In fact, the park administration has trained the rickshaw drivers to be good tour guides by teaching them how to observe birds.

Keoladeo National Park's Flora and Fauna

Keoladeo National Park has 2,873 hectares of forests, meadows, wetlands, and forested swamps. The forest is covered in medium-sized plants and trees, and the vegetation is dry deciduous. The following trees are frequently seen in the park: kadam, jamun, babul, kandi, ber, kair, and piloo.

Keoladeo National Park is home to 370 different species of birds. Many aquatic birds from China, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Siberia visit the area. Actually, it's the only location in India where you may witness the Siberian Crane, a critically endangered species, throughout the winter months. In addition to cranes, pelicans, eagles, wagtails, spotted bill ducks, white-breasted kingfishers, moor hens, painted storks, partridges, magpie robins, and rose-ringed parakeets; there are also rose-ringed parakeets.

History

The sanctuary was named for the adjacent Keoladeo (Shiva) temple and was established 250 years ago. Once a natural hazard, the area was flooded by the Ajan Bund, which was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, who ruled the royal kingdom of Bharatpur from 1726 to 1763. The bund was constructed at the meeting point of the Gambhir and Banganga rivers. Since 1850, the park has been used as a wonderful hunting location for the maharajas of Bharatpur, with regular duck hunts held in honor of the British viceroys. In 1938, Lord Linlithgow, the Governor-General of India at the time, shot and killed more than 4,273 mallards and teals.

After India's independence, shooting rights were granted to the princely state rulers until 1972. In 1982, the government prohibited grazing in the park, which led to violent disputes between the Gujjar people and nearby farmers.

The sanctuary is home to a small wintering population of rare Siberian cranes. Other species include tufted ducks, common pochards, coots, garganey, northern shovelers, northern pintails, gulls, and ruddy shelducks.

In late 2004, farmers put pressure on the Vasundhara Raje led by the Rajasthani government to stop water from being sent to the sanctuary. As wetlands dried up and became unusable, the park's water supply fell from 540,000,000 to 18,000,000 cubic feet (15,000,000 to 510,000 m3), resulting in an ecological disaster. The majority of the birds traveled 90 kilometers from New Delhi to Garhmukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh, for breeding. Consequently, a large number of the birds were killed for their meat. Prominent environmentalists protested the Act and a public interest litigation was filed in court.

Conclusion

After discovering the birds of Keoladeo National Park, you must visit Ranthambore National Park to explore the exciting wildlife and enjoy the adventurous activities in the park. In the Ranthambore National Park, you can see several wildlife animals like Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears, hyenas, wild boars, sambar deer, and chitals, among others.