Keoladeo National Park

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Keoladeo National Park
This former duck-hunting reserve of the Maharajas is one of the major wintering areas for
large numbers of aquatic birds from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, hina and !iberia" !ome
#$% s&ecies of birds, including the rare !iberian crane, have been recorded in the &ark"
English
'rench
Arabic
hinese
(ussian
!&anish
)a&anese
*utch
!arus rane, +rus antigone, +ruidae famil,, +ruiformes order, Keoladeo +hana National Park,
-harat&ur, (ajasthan, .ndia / M 0 + Therin-1eise
2utstanding 3niversal 4alue
Brief synthesis
Keoladeo National Park, located in the !tate of (ajasthan, is an im&ortant wintering ground
of Palaearctic migrator, waterfowl and is renowned for its large congregation of non-
migrator, resident breeding birds" A green wildlife oasis situated within a &o&ulated human-
dominated landsca&e, some #56 bird s&ecies and a diverse arra, of other life forms have
been recorded in this mosaic of grasslands, woodlands, woodland swam&s and wetlands of
just 7,85# ha" This 9-ird Paradise: was develo&ed in a natural de&ression wetland that was
managed as a duck shooting reserve at the end of the ;<th centur," 1hile hunting has
ceased and the area declared a national &ark in ;<87, its continued e=istence is de&endent
on a regulated water su&&l, from a reservoir outside the &ark boundar," The &ark:s well-
designed s,stem of d,kes and sluices &rovides areas of var,ing water de&ths which are
used b, various avifaunal s&ecies"
*ue to its strategic location in the middle of entral Asian migrator, fl,wa, and &resence of
water, large congregations of ducks, geese, coots, &elicans and waders arrive in the winter"
The &ark was the onl, known wintering site of the central &o&ulation of the criticall,
endangered !iberian rane, and also serves as a wintering area for other globall,
threatened s&ecies such as the +reater !&otted >agle and .m&erial >agle" *uring the
breeding season the most s&ectacular heronr, in the region is formed b, ;6 s&ecies of
herons, ibis, cormorants, s&oonbills and storks, where in a well-flooded ,ear over 7?,???
birds nest"

Criterion (x): The Keoladeo National Park is a wetland of international im&ortance for
migrator, waterfowl, where birds migrating down the entral Asian fl,wa, congregate before
dis&ersing to other regions" At time of inscri&tion it was the wintering ground for the riticall,
>ndangered !iberian rane, and is habitat for large numbers of resident nesting birds" !ome
#56 bird s&ecies have been recorded from the &ro&ert, including five riticall, >ndangered,
two >ndangered and si= vulnerable s&ecies" Around ;;6 s&ecies of birds breed in the &ark
which includes ;6 water bird s&ecies forming one of the most s&ectacular heronries of the
region" The habitat mosaic of the &ro&ert, su&&orts a large number of s&ecies in a small
area, with %7 s&ecies of ra&tors recorded"

Integrity
This is the onl, &ark in .ndia that is com&letel, enclosed b, a 7 m high boundar, wall that
minimises the &ossibilities of an, encroachment and biotic disturbances, but there is no
&ossibilit, of a buffer @one" As the wetlands of Keoladeo are not natural, the, are de&endent
on the monsoon and on water &um&ed in from outside, traditionall, &rovided from the AAjan
-andhB reservoir" The water shortage caused b, the erratic rainfall in the region is being
addressed b, initiating two large water resources &rojects that will bring water from
&ermanent water sources in the region" There has been some concern e=&ressed over
&ossible air and water &ollution effects from the adjacent cit, of -harat&ur, but these effects
are unknown at &resent"
Through eco-develo&ment activities in the surrounding villages, the gra@ing of cattle within
the &ark has been minimised and the local communities are also engaged in &artici&ator,
resource conservation, which includes removal of invasive alien s&ecies" Keoladeo attracts
man, visitors who are taken for bird watching in bic,cle rickshaws b, trained local guides
from surrounding villages, which &rovides additional livelihoods as well as reduces noise
&ollution"
A recentl, started conservation &rogramme for the 75 satellite wetlands surrounding this &ark
has further enhanced the &rotection of the migrator, waterfowl arriving in the entral Asian
fl,wa, to winter in 1estern .ndia"

Protection and management reuirements
The &ro&ert, has effective legal &rotection under the &rovisions of 1ildlife CProtectionD Act,
;<57 and .ndian 'orest Act, ;<75" The site is managed b, the (ajasthan 'orest *e&artment
with the su&&ort of local communities and national and international conservation
organi@ations, and a management &lan has been develo&ed for the &rotection and
management of the &ro&ert,"
The major threats to the &ro&ert, are the water su&&l, Cboth quantit, and qualit,DE invasive
vegetation CProsopis, Eichhornia, PaspalumDE and ina&&ro&riate use of the &ro&ert, b,
neighbouring villages" These issues are being dealt with through the management &lan, and
two &rojects have been develo&ed to bring a &ermanent solution to the water crisis" .nvasive
alien s&ecies have been removed through coo&erative arrangements with the surrounding
&o&ulations" The 7 m high boundar, wall that surrounds the &ark virtuall, eliminates the
threats of &oaching or &ollution, and there is no encroachment or habitations inside the &ark"
Noise &ollution from the adjoining -harat&ur cit, and National Fighwa, are minimal" *ue to
stringent legal environmental regulations in .ndia, all &ro&osed develo&mental activities have
to be subjected to a stringent environmental assessment &rocess"

Gong *escri&tion
The site is situated in eastern (ajasthan, the &ark is 7 km south-east of -harat&ur and 6? km
west of Agra" The area consists of a flat &atchwork of marshes in the +angetic &lain,
artificiall, created in the ;86?s and maintained ever since b, a s,stem of canals, sluices and
d,kes" Normall,, water is fed into the marshes twice a ,ear from inundations of the +ambira
and -anganga rivers, which are im&ounded on arable land b, means of an artificial dam
called Ajan -und, to the south of the &ark" The first time, usuall, in mid-)ul,, is soon after the
onset of the monsoon and the second time is in late !e&tember or 2ctober when Ajan -und
is drained read, for cultivation in winter" Thus, the area is flooded to a de&th of ;-7 m
throughout the monsoon C)ul,-!e&temberD, after which the water level dro&s" 'rom 'ebruar,
onwards the land begins to dr, out and b, )une onl, some water remains" 'or much of the
,ear the area of wetland is onl, ;,??? ha" !oils are &redominantl, alluvial - some cla, has
formed as a result of the &eriodic inundations"
.n a semi-arid biot,&e, the &ark is the onl, area with much vegetation, hence the term
H+hanaH meaning HthicketH" The &rinci&al vegetation t,&es are tro&ical dr, deciduous forest,
intermi=ed with dr, grassland in areas where forest has been degraded" A&art form the
artificiall, managed marshes, much of the area is covered b, medium-si@ed trees and
shrubs" 'orests, mostl, in the north-east of the &ark, are dominated b, kalam or kadam,
jamun and babul" The o&en woodland is mostl, babul with a small amount of kandi and ber"
!crublands are dominated b, ber and kair" The aquatic vegetation is rich in s&ecies and is a
valuable source of food for waterfowl"
Primates are rhesus macaque and langur" Garge &redators are absent, leo&ard having been
deliberatel, e=terminated b, ;<$%, but small carnivores include -engal fo=, jackal, stri&ed
h,ena, common &alm civet, small .ndian civet, .ndian gre, mongoose Herpestes edwardsi ,
fishing cat, leo&ard cat, jungle cat and smooth-coated otter" 3ngulates include blackbuck,
chital, sambar, hog deer, nilgai and wild boar and feral cattle" 2ther mammals include .ndian
&orcu&ine and .ndian hare"
An estimated $6 million fish fr, are carried into the &arkHs water im&oundments b, river
flooding ever, ,ear during the monsoon season, which &rovides the food base for large
numbers of wading and fish-eating birds" !ome #$% s&ecies of bird have been recorded in
the &ark, which is considered to be one of the worldHs finest areas for birds, with a unique
assemblage of s&ecies"
The &arkHs location in the +angetic Plain makes it an unrivalled breeding site for herons,
storks and cormorants and an im&ortant wintering ground for large numbers of migrant
ducks" The most common waterfowl are gadwall, shoveler, common teal, cotton teal, tufted
duck, comb duck, little cormorant, great cormorant, .ndian shag, ruff, &ainted stork, white
s&oonbill, Asian o&en-billed stork, oriental ibis, darter, common sand&i&er, wood sand&i&er
and green sand&i&er" !arus crane, with its s&ectacular courtshi& dance, is also found here"
Among landbirds is a rich assortment consisting of warblers, babblers, bee-eaters, bulbuls,
buntings, chats, &artridges and quails" +re, hornbill and MarshallHs iora are also &resent"
There are man, birds of &re, including the os&re,, &eregrine, PallasH sea eagle, short-toed
eagle, tawn, eagle, im&erial eagle, s&otted eagle and crested ser&ent eagle" +reater s&otted
eagle has recentl, been recorded breeding here, a new breeding record for the s&ecies in
.ndia and lesser s&otted eagle nested in the &ark in ;<8$, the first nesting record for the
s&ecies in .ndia for some time"
!everal other threatened avifauna s&ecies occur, including *almatian &elican, s&ot-billed
&elican, greater adjutant, lesser adjutant, marbled teal, -aikal teal, -aerHs &ochard, red kite,
cinereous vulture and sociable la&wing"
(e&tiles include water snakes, .ndian &,thon, banded krait, green rat snake, turtles and
monitor li@ard"
!ourceI 3N>!2JGTJ1F
Fistorical *escri&tion
>stablished as a national &ark on ;? March ;<87" Previousl, the &rivate duck shooting
&reserve of the Maharaja of -harat&ur since the ;8!?Hs, the area was designated as a bird
sanctuar, on ;# March ;<!$ and a (amsar site in 2ctober ;<8;" The last big shoot was
held in ;<$% but the Maharajah retained shooting rights until ;<57" .nscribed on the 1orld
Feritage Gist in ;<86"