Narayan sarovar sanctuary Kutch

Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1981 as a unique eco-system near Narayan Sarovar in Kutch district of Gujarat. Covering an area of 765.79 sq km, the sanctuary is one of the famous desert forests surrounded by the Kori creek on the northwest and mangrove forest on the west, while at the northern and southern boundaries are prominent land features. The elevation of the sanctuary near the coast is 8.9 ft rising to a highest of 515 ft at Manijal hill in Kaniyaro Rakhal. The sanctuary is located about 170 km from Bhuj.

The climate experienced by the sanctuary region is a tropical climate with typical very hot summer with May and June as the hottest months facing dusty storms. The temperature in summer ranges around 40-42 degree Celsius. The minimum temperate drops down to 10-12 degree Celsius in winters and December and January are the coldest months. Rainfall is inadequate as monsoons are short-lived and scanty.

The best time to visit Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary is between October and March when the temperature is soothing for the travelers to visit as well as for the animals to be sighted.

Among the rarest and most endangered species found in the sanctuary is the chinkara which is the most sighted animal here and is currently the flagship species of the sanctuary. It has been identified by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) as one of the last remaining habitats of the cheetah in India.

It houses 15 threatened wildlife species and the biodiversity has some rare animals and birds. The seasonal wetland comprise a little of the arid zone and the desert vegetation gives rise to mainly thorns and scrub forests.

The fauna consists of 14 species of mammals, 9 species of reptiles and 6 species of snakes. Among the most prominent ones are chinkara, cheetah, black buck, caracal, desert cat, pangolin, great Indian bustard, porcupine, blue bull or nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), Indian boar (Sus scrofa), Indian wolf (Canis lupus) mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii), hare, striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and the peafowl.

Avifauna includes 161 species of which 112 are resident species and 38 are migrants. The abundant species includes birds like grey francolin, Eurasian collared dove, laughing dove, Indian robin, red-vented bulbul, common babbler, house sparrow, plain munia and greater short-toed lark. The less commonly found birds are ortolan bunting, desert warbler, pied tit, white-browed fantail, lesser spotted eagle, sirkeer malkoha, Eurasian wryneck and yellow-crowned woodpecker.

The flora of the sanctuary is mainly about natural desert thorn forests and grasslands with mixed forest vegetation including dry savannah, desert thorn, tropical euphorbia scrub forest and Salvadora scrub forest, Rann saline scrub and desert dune.