Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary also known as the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the

Little Rann of Kutch The Little Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh which is part of the Rann of Kutch in Kutch district, Gujarat, India. Attractions Indian wild ass sanctuary The Little Rann of Kutch is home to the Indian wild ass (khur). To conserve this spec ...

in the

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 ...

state of

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 ...

. It is spread over an area of 4954 km². The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1972 and came under the

Wildlife Protection Act The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established scheduled pr ...

of 1972. The sanctuary is one of the last places on earth where the endangered wild ass sub-species

Indian Wild Ass The Indian wild ass (''Equus hemionus khur''), also called the Indian onager or, in the local Gujarati language, Ghudkhur and Khur, is a subspecies of the onager native to South Asia. It is currently listed as Near Threatened by IUCN. The prev ...

(Khur) (''Equus hemionus khur'') belonging to Asiatic Wild Ass species

Onager The onager (; ''Equus hemionus'' ), A new species called the kiang (''E. kiang''), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as ''E. hemionus kiang'', but recent molecular studies indicate it to be a distinct ...

(''Equus hemionus'') can be spotted.

Geography

The

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...

is a sealine desert. During

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

, the Rann (

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Centre the sanctuary has * About 93 species of

invertebrate 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 ...

s - 25 species of

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

s, 1 species of annelid, 4

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s, 24

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, 12 molluscs and 27

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s. * 4 species of amphibians * 29 species of reptiles - 2 species of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

s, 14 species of lizards, 12

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s and 1 crocodile *

Metapenaeus ''Metapenaeus'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and b ...

kutchensis - a type of

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...

* 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 Pied bush chat in LRK

Threats

The main threat faced by the sanctuary is the illegal salt panning activity in the area. 25% of India's salt supply comes from panning activity in the area.

Biosphere Reserve - World Heritage Site

It is nominated by the Forest department to be a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

which are areas of terrestrial and coastal

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

internationally recognized within the framework of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme. it will focus on conserving

biological diversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

, research, monitoring and providing sustainable development models, the proposal has been sent to and listed at

.Kutch’s wild ass habitat may soon get heritage label
(2 Page article online); by DP Bhattacharya; Jul 26, 2007; Indian Express Newspaper

Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserves of Kutch

From the city of

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

various

ecologically Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

rich and

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

areas of the Kutch / Kachchh district can be visited such as Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary,

Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Great Rann of Kutch, Kutch district, Gujarat, India. It was declared a sanctuary in February 1986. It is the largest Wildlife refuge, Wildlife Sanctuary in India areawise. It is one of the larg ...

, Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary,

Kutch Bustard Sanctuary Kutch Bustard Sanctuary or Kachchh Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary, also known as Lala–Parjan Sanctuary, is located near Jakhau village in Taluka Abdasa, Gujarat, India. This sanctuary is one of the two great Indian bustard sanctuaries in Guja ...

, Banni Grasslands Reserve and Chari-Dhand Wetland Conservation Reserve etc..

Gallery

Image:Wild ass group female.jpg, A group of female asses breaking into a run Image:Wild ass male.JPG, Alpha Male of a group. File:Nilgai_group_at_Little_Rann_of_kutch.JPG, Nilgai group at Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch File:Little rann of kutch landscape.JPG, Landscape of Wild Ass Sanctuary Little Rann of Kutch Image:Wild ass india.jpg, Indian Wild Ass

References

External links

{{commons category, Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary

Official website: Forests & Environment Department; State Government of Gujarat, India 1972 establishments in Gujarat Protected areas of Kutch district Wildlife sanctuaries in Gujarat Protected areas established in 1972 Onager