Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Great Rann of Kutch, Kutch district,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. It was declared a sanctuary in February 1986. It is the largest Wildlife Sanctuary in India areawise. It is one of the largest seasonal saline wetlands having an average water depth between 0.5 and 1.5 metres. By October–November each year, rain water dries up and the entire area turns into saline desert. The sanctuary supports wide variety of water birds and mammalian wildlife.

Flamingo City

It encompasses a true saline desert where thousands of greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') nest in the world-famous ‘Flamingo City’ located in the mud flats of the Rann, about 10 km from Nir outpost on Kala Dungar hill. It is the only area where flamingoes congregate to breed regularly. As per a television series, National Security by Rajya Sabha TV, the flamingo city is now a dead patch of land and flamingos do not come to breed here

Indo-Pak International border

The northern boundary of this sanctuary forms the

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and is heavily patrolled by the

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

in India with much of this sanctuary being closed to civilians after the India Bridge at Kala dungar (Black hill),

Khavda Khavda is a village in Bhuj Taluka of Kutch district of Gujarat, India. It lies on the west side of Pachham Island in Greater Rann of Kutch. History It belonged to the Raos of Cutch State and came into their possession under rather curious cir ...

. Tourists and researchers can only enter here with special permission from the BSF.

Snow white Rann

In the area controlled and patrolled by the

(BSF) after the "India Bridge" several hundred square kilometers of Rann is pure white like snow with heavy deposit of salt crystals. The marshy Rann here becomes pure white and flat till the eye can see, till the horizon after the rain water has dried up, in the winters every year.

Excavated city of Dholavira from the Harappan civilization

Buried nearby to where the flamingoes breed is the ancient excavated city of

Dholavira Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is f ...

from the Harappan civilization, attracting archeologists from all over the world.

Ancient fossil beds

This sanctuary has some other ancient attractions as well. Embedded in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

rocks on Khadir, Kuvar and Pachchham bet islands in the Greater Rann, are plenty of

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

and plants. Fossils of

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, crocodiles (of the 'Dinosaurian period') and

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

(dating from the Tertiary period) have been recorded to have been recovered from here. Fossilized trees and forests are found here in the rocks belonging to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossils of invertebrates here include those of

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

and such others.

In popular culture

J. P. Dutta Jyoti Prakash Dutta (born 3 October 1949) is an Indian Bollywood film producer, writer and director, best known for making patriotic action war films. Personal life Dutta is married to the Bollywood film actress Bindiya Goswami with whom he has ...

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film

Refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

is shot on location in the Great Rann of Kutch and other locations in the Kutch district of

, India. This film is inspired by the famous story by

Keki N. Daruwalla Keki N. Daruwalla (born 24 January 1937NCERT The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...

in India.(iii) Supplementary Reader; Selected Pieces of General English for Class XII; English General - Class XII
; Curriculum and Syllabus for Classes XI & XII;

NCERT The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its head ...

. Also posted a

Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserves of Kutch

From the city of Bhuj various ecologically rich and wildlife conservation areas of the Kutch / Kachchh district can be visited such as

Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary also known as the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Little Rann of Kutch in the Gujarat state of India. It is spread over an area of 4954 km². The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1972 and came u ...

, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary,

Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary also popularly known as Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary or Narayan Sarovar Chinkara Sanctuary

, Kutch Bustard Sanctuary,

Banni Grasslands Reserve Banni Grasslands Reserve or Banni grasslands form a belt of arid grassland ecosystem on the outer southern edge of the desert of the marshy salt flats of Rann of Kutch in Kutch District, Gujarat State, India. They are known for rich wildlife a ...

and

Chari-Dhand Wetland Conservation Reserve The Chari-Dhand wetland conservation reserve is located on the edge of arid Banni grasslands and the marshy salt flats of the Rann of Kutch in Kutch district, Gujarat State in India. It is currently legally protected under the status as a Prot ...

etc. On the opposite side of the border in

, the

Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary The Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest Ramsar site in Sindh, covering , and is located in the Rann of Kutch in Badin District, Sindh, Pakistan. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the government of Sindh in 1980. Description The ...

preserves 566,375 hectares.

References

* This text was originally published in the book Terrestrial ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a conservation assessment from Island Press. Also see: {{NatGeo ecoregion, id=im0901, name=Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh
Kutch Desert Wild Life Sanctuary

Official websites: Forests & Environment Department; State Government of Gujarat, India
ASI to take up excavation in Kutch's Khirasara
by Prashant Rupera, TNN; 2 November 2009; Times of India
Flight scan on nomad bird
by G.S. MUDUR; November 1, 2009; The Telegraph, Calcutta, India
Pushed to the edge, they thrive in no man's land
TNN; 5 August 2009; Times of India
ASI’s effort to put Dholavira on World Heritage map hits roadblock
by hitarthpandya; Feb 13, 2009; Indian Express Newspaper
Jurassic Park: Forest officials stumble upon priceless discovery near Dholavira
(2 Page article online); Express news service; Jan 08, 2007; Indian Express Newspaper. Also se

Black Hills, Dark Shadow
by JANYALA SREENIVAS; Apr 03, 2005; Indian Express Newspaper

By Gaurav Raghuvanshi; Feb 25, 2005; Business Line; Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Expedition to rescue flamingo chicks launched
TNN; 7 May 2004; Times of India
Flamingos perish in Rann of Kutch
TNN; 4 May 2004; Times of India
Footloose in a Forgotten Land
Feb 08, 2004; Extracted with permission from Rupa & Co.; Indian Express Newspaper
Salt may have choked flamingo chicks
TNN; 30 December 2003; Times of India

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE; April 28, 1999; Indian Express Newspaper

April 21, 1999; Indian Express Newspaper

by EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE; April 20, 1999; Indian Express Newspaper Wildlife sanctuaries in Gujarat Grasslands of India Wetlands of India 1986 establishments in Gujarat Protected areas of Kutch district Protected areas established in 1986