Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary also known as the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary is located in the Little Rann of Kutch in the Gujarat state of India. Spread over 4954 km², it is the largest wildlife sanctuary in India..

The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1972 and came under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1973. The sanctuary is one of the last places on earth where the endangered wild ass sub-species Khur (Equus hemionus khur) belonging to species Onager (Equus hemionus) can be spotted.

Geography

The Rann of Kutch is a saline desert. During monsoon, the Rann (Gujarati for desert) gets flooded for a period of about one month and is dotted with about 74 elevated plateaus or islands, locally called 'bets'. These bets are covered with grass and feed the population of around 2100 animals.

Species found

The sanctuary is habitat to many species of animals and birds. According to the data submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre the sanctuary has

• About 93 species of invertebrates - 25 species of zooplanktons, 1 species of annelid, 4 crustaceans, 24 insects, 12 molluscs and 27 spiders.
• 4 species of amphibians
• 29 species of reptiles - 2 species of turtles, 14 species of lizards, 12 snakes and 1 crocodile
• Metapenaeus kutchensis - a type of prawn
• 70,000-75,000 bird nests
• 9 mammalian orders with 33 species/subspecies - including the world’s last population of the Khur sub-species of the wild ass

Threats

The main threat faced by the sanctuary is the illegal salt mining activity in the area. 25% of India's salt supply comes from mining in the area. The transportation of salt leads to noise and air pollution. Another major threat to the animals is due to the 217 km² firing range of the Indian army located within the sanctuary. Other threats faced by the sanctuary are poaching and proliferation of chemical factories in the region.

See also

• List of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of Gujarat, India

External links

• Nomination entry - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

References