Tal Chhapar Sanctuary is a sanctuary located in the
Churu district of Bikaner division in Rajasthan. Before independence Tal
Chappar sanctuary was a Private Hunting Reserve of the Maharaja of Bikaner.
This sanctuary is 210 km from Jaipur on the peripheral of the Great Indian
Desert and situated on road from Ratangarh to Sujangarh. The Tal Chhapar
sanctuary lies in the Sujangarh Tehsil of Churu District. This sanctuary is a
flat saline depression locally known as "Tal" that has a unique
ecosystem in the heart of the Thar Desert. Tal Chappar Sanctuary has open
grassland with spread all over Acacia and prosopis trees which give it a look
of a typical Savanna. In the Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, a special type of grass is
found. The shape of the seed of this grass is like very fine round shaped
pearls. For this reason this grass is known as “Mothiya” or pearl and has a
very sweet taste. People enjoy eating it, but it is found in very small
quantities.
The sanctuary area is mostly covered by grasses with a
very few trees. It lies on the way of the passage of many migratory birds such
as harriers. These birds pass through this area during September. Birds
commonly seen in the sanctuary are harriers, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Tawny
Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, sparrow, and Little Green Bee-eaters, Black Ibis and
Demoiselle Cranes, which stay there till March. There are many other birds like
skylark, crested lark, Ring Dove, brown dove and blue jay are seen throughout
the year. Desert fox and desert cat can also be spotted along with typical
avifauna such as partridge and sand grouse.
Tal Chappar wild life sanctuary comes alive with the
chirping of various migratory birds including montagur’s, marsh harrier, pale harrier,
imperial eagle, tawny eagle, short toed eagle, sparrow hawk, skylark, crested
lark, ring drove, brown dove, blue jay, green bee- eaters, black ibis and
demoiselle or the Kurja cranes. You can also see the Kurja these migratory bird
from far off countries as Siberia, Magnolia, Tajikistan, central Asia and
starts to migrate in the month of September.
Among the other wildlife beauties then it is a fact that
Tal Chhapar Sanctuary is famous for black-bucks. Talchhapar wildlife sanctuary
is the sole place having a good population of Black buck in such a small area.
The sanctuary is a home to nearly 1680 Black Bucks. Being a natural home of
Blackbucks and you can easily see 500-700 animals in a single herd. It is the
only sanctuary in India in which is having a good number of blackbucks in an
almost tree-less, saline and flat-land. These black bucks have “Mothiya” for
their food.
