A
50 kilometer drive from Agra, in Bharatpur town of the north Indian state
of Rajasthan lies the Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bhartpur
Bird Sanctuary. Probably one of the finest in the world, the park is recognized
as a World Heritage Site
by the UNESCO. Spread over 29 sq. km, the park has an additional credit that
it is the only wildlife sanctuary in India which is artificially made by a
Maharaja. Over 364 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of
fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian and 7 turtle species
etc makes Keoladeo Ghana National Park a paradise for both foreign and domestic
wildlife lovers. Around 1 lakh tourists visit Keoladeo Park annually.
The park got its name as Keoladeo Ghana Park on account of
an ancient Shiva Temple at the center of the park, and the word 'Ghana' means
dense and thick forest which covers the entire area. Commonly referred to as
Bharatpur, it is known by the name of the adjoining town of Bharatpur,
which is also the name of the king who established the park. It was the
former duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas of Bharatpur. |
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Initially,
it was a vast semi - arid region, filling with water during monsoon season. To prevent this, Maharaja Suraj Mal, the then ruler of the princely state of
Bharatpur made an artificial lake and Ajan Bundh dam between 1726 to 1763 and
within a few years, birds began to settle in vast numbers. Rumor is that his
primary concern was not the conservation , he used the park as his hunting estate
and the daily shoot was reputed to be as high as 100,000 birds. However,
Maharaja Brajendra Singh converted the estate into a Bird Sanctuary in 1956
and the indiscriminate shooting of birds continued until shooting was banned
in 1964 by the India Government. Bharatpur was declared a National Park
in March 10, 1982 credited to the efforts of eminent ornithologist Dr. Salim
Ali. In December 1985, Keoladeo Ghana was accepted as a World Heritage Site.
Flora
The park has tropical dry deciduous forest type. Some 282 species
of trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses and herbs are found here. The aquatic vegetation
is plenty in this park which includes 96 species of submerged and emergent plants
as well as a diversity of scrub forests including woodlands, scrub woodlands,
woodland savannahs, shrub savannahs, and grass savannahs. Some of them are Mitragyna
parvifolia, Syzygium cumini, Capparis sepiaria, Ziziphus mauritiana, Prosopis
cineraria, Desmostachya bipinnata , Vetiveria zizanioides, Acacia leucophloea,
Acacia nilotica, and Cynodon dactylon. |
Wildlife 
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