Nara Desert Wildlife Sanctuary | |
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Location | Mirpur Khas District, Sindh, Pakistan |
Area | 6,300 km2 (2,400 sq mi) |
Nara Desert Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Mirpurkhas District, Sindh, Pakistan. [1]
The Nara desert provides refuge to much wildlife in the Sindh province. The Nara Canal area, a chain of some 200 freshwater, brackish and saline lakes and marshes stretching for about 150 km along either side of the Nara Canal from Sorah in the north to Sanghar in the south, is known to be of great importance for wintering waterfowl and other wildlife.
The largest population of the endangered Mugger crocodile in Pakistan is found here. [2]
There are mammals such as the Indian long-eared hedgehog, caracal, Indian desert cat, Indian grey mongoose, common jackal, Indian jackal, striped hyena, bengal fox, honey badger, Indian pangolin, chinkara, Central Asian boar, Indian hare, Northern palm squirrel, Indian crested porcupine and Indian desert jird. [3]
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.
The Great Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt deserts in the world. This area has been inhabited by the Kutchi people.
The mugger crocodile is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes, lakes, rivers and artificial ponds. It rarely reaches a body length of 5 m and is a powerful swimmer, but also walks on land in search of suitable waterbodies during the hot season. Both young and adult mugger crocodiles dig burrows to which they retreat when the ambient temperature drops below 5 °C (41 °F) or exceeds 38 °C (100 °F). Females dig holes in the sand as nesting sites and lay up to 46 eggs during the dry season. The sex of hatchlings depends on temperature during incubation. Both parents protect the young for up to one year. They feed on insects, and adults prey on fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.
The chinkara, also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to India, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sukkur Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The barrage was built during the British Raj from 1923 to 1932 and was named Lloyd Barrage. The Sukkur Barrage, is the pride of Pakistan's irrigation system as it is the largest single irrigation network of its kind in the world. It irrigates from Sukkur district in the north, to Mirpurkhas/Tharparkar and Hyderabad districts in the south of Sindh, almost all parts of the province. It is situated about 500 kilometres northeast of Karachi, 5 kilometres below the railway bridge, or the Sukkur Gorge. The introduction of barrage-controlled irrigation system resulted in more timely water supplies for the existing cultivated areas of Sindh province of Pakistan.
Karoonjhar Mountains are located in south-eastern edge of the Tharparkar district in Sindh, Pakistan. The range is approximately 19 kilometers long and reaches a height of 305 meters, and contains vaste deposits of granite and Chinese clay.
Hub Dam Wildlife Sanctuary is located around Hub Dam in Balochistan and Sindh Provinces of Pakistan. The greater part of this wildlife sanctuary in Balochistan is unprotected; the eastern shore and area south of the dam in Sindh are protected in the Kirthar National Park and Hub Dam Wildlife Sanctuary, respectively. The lake formed by the dam covers an area of 32 m2 (340 sq ft). There is plenty of waterfowl in the lake, both resident and migratory. The surrounding hills are harbour urial, Sindh ibex, four-horned antelope, chinkara, Golden jackal, Bengal fox, Indian pangolin and numerous birds and reptiles.
The Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest Ramsar site in Sindh, covering 566,375 ha, and is located in the Rann of Kutch in Badin District, Sindh, Pakistan. In 1980, declared as a wildlife sanctuary by the Government of Sindh, the Rann of Kutch covers the most Ramsar site area as compared to that of any other of the ten Ramsar sites in Sindh province of Pakistan.
The wildlife of Pakistan comprises a diverse flora and fauna in a wide range of habitats from sea level to high elevation areas in the mountains, including 195 mammal, 668 bird species and more than 5000 species of Invertebrates. This diverse composition of the country's fauna is associated with its location in the transitional zone between two major zoogeographical regions, the Palearctic, and the Oriental. The northern regions of Pakistan, which include Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan include portions of two biodiversity hotspot, Mountains of Central Asia and Himalayas.
Pakistan's native fauna reflect its varied climatic zones. The northern Pakistan, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, has portions of two biodiversity hotspots, Mountains of Central Asia and Himalayas.
The fauna of Sindh live in an area with a semi arid climate. With its coastal and riverine forests, its huge fresh water lakes, mountains and deserts, Sindh supports a large and varied wildlife population.
The Rann of Kutch is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located mostly in the Kutch district of the Indian state of Gujarat, with a minor portion extending into the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is divided into the Great Rann and Little Rann. It used to be a part of the Arabian Sea, but it then dried up, leaving behind the salt, which formed the Rann of Kutch. The Luni flowed into the Rann of Kutch, but when the Rann dried up, the Luni was left behind, which explains why the Luni does not flow into the Arabian Sea today.
The Indus River Delta-Arabian Sea mangroves are a large mangrove ecoregion on the Arabian Sea coast of Sindh Province, Pakistan, and the Gulfs of Kutch and Khambhat in Gujarat, India. The mangroves are the seventh largest mangrove forest in the world.
The Kirthar National Park is situated in the Kirthar Mountains in Jamshoro District in Sindh, Pakistan. It was established in 1974 and encompasses over 3,087 km2 (1,192 sq mi), making it the third largest national park in Pakistan. Wildlife in the park comprises leopard, striped hyena, Indian wolf, honey badger, urial, chinkara gazelle and rare Sindh ibex. Blackbuck are kept in enclosures for a reintroduction project.
Hingol National Park or Hungol National Park is one of the largest national parks in Pakistan, located in the Makran coastal region. The park covers an area of about 6,100 square kilometres (2,400 sq mi) and is located 190 km from Karachi in the three districts of Gwadar, Lasbela and Awaran in Balochistan. Hingol was declared a national park in 1988.
Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Panchkula district of Haryana state, India. It is spread over an area of 767.30 hectares. It also houses Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre, Pinjore.
Khol Hi-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Panchkula district of Haryana State, India. It is 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) away from Panchkula on the Morni Road and its aerial distance from the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary is only 3 kilometres (1.9 mi).
Mehrano Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Khairpur District of Pakistan province of Sindh an enhanced riverine forest privately preserved by the Talpur Mir royal family of Khairpur Princely state with endorsement by the Sindh wildlife department. It comprises agricultural land, forest, and hunting area and is home to various flora and fauna.
Deh Akro-II Desert Wetland Complex locally referred to as Deh Akro, is one of the ten Ramsar sites located in Sindh province of Pakistan. Designated under the Ramsar convention in 2002, the internationally significant site has mainly an inland wetland ecosystem and covers an area of around 20,500 hectares.