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Desert National Park,
Jaisalmer
The vast tracts of desert sands around
Jaisalmer, with their wood fossils, have
been designated the Desert National Park. To
the lay person, there may be little about
the desert that calls for 'protection',
leave alone support wildlife, but the desert
has a fragile eco-system that has a unique
variety of wildlife species. These include
the somewhat ungainly great Indian bustard
which, because of these efforts, has made a
comeback in recent decades, though it is
still on the endangered list.
Since the sandy desert has only a few
grasses and shrubs, and a low scattering of
indigenous trees, the leaf cover is limited.
This environment supports the spiny-tail
lizard that lives in underground colonies,
desert monitors that look like miniature
replicas of dragons, sandfish that 'swim'
under the sand, chameleons, and of course,
snakes that include the deadly saw-scaled
viper and Sind krait. Other faunal species
here include the desert hare, hedgehog, the
predatory Indian wolf, desert fox, and
desert gerbil.
However, it is with the great Indian bustard
that the Desert National Park is most
closely associated, especially since its
conservation efforts have borne fruit. A
bird that lives in small flocks, it has
strong legs meant for walking and feeds on
everything from cereals and berries to
grasshoppers, locusts, and even snakes,.
Other avifaunal species include a variety of
sandgrouse, gray partridge, quails, peafowl
and some insect eating birds such as
bee-eaters, shrikes, orioles, drongos,
warblers and babblers wherever khair bushes
can be found. Special mention needs to be
made of the houbara, the lesser bustard
which was almost hunted to extinction, and
which has now been allowed to breed, and of
the desert courser which, it has now been
established, breeds in the Thar on its
migratory journey through the desert.
The Desert National Park, unlike most
preserves throughout the world, does not
overwhelm with a profusion of either
vegetation or wildlife, but it is precisely
because of this that its preservation has
ensured that a vital link in the eco-system
has not been destroyed. Visitors to the park
will need patience and persecerance to
establish the sighting of wildlife, and
though they may miss the 'glamour' of tiger
sightings, a view of the long-legged bustard
cresting a sand-dune is every bit as
rewarding.
Base: Jaisalmer Visit during the
winters. Foreign visitors may require
special permission since the park is close
to the Pakistan border; travel agents can
help with permissions. A good way to view
the wildlife is comping out in the desert,
but they must ensure that no infringement of
the park is caused. |
