Tal Chhapar Sanctuary Shekhawati

Tal Chhapar Sanctuary is situated in the Churu district of Northwestern Rajasthan in the Shekhawati area. It is 205 km from Jaipur and is located on road from Ratangarh to Sujangarh. The Tal Chappar sanctuary lies in the Sujangarh Tehsil of Churu District. It lies on Nokha- Sujangarh state Highway and is located at a distance of about 82 km from Churu & about 130 km from Bikaner. Tal Chappar sanctuary, situated on the fringes of the Thar desert, is known as home to about 2,000 black bucks.

The nearest Railway station is Chappar which lies on Degana – Churu – Rewari metre gauge line of North Western Railways. The nearest Airport is Sanganer (Jaipur) which is at a distance of 215 km from Chappar. The flourishing grassland ecosystem of Tal Chappar contains a tale of its own. Since 1940s, it was a hunting ground and horse pasture belonging to Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner. The area come to known as a wildlife sanctuary in 1966. The Geology of the zone is obscured by the wind blown over-burden. Few small hillocks and exposed rocks of slate and quartzite are found in the western side of the sanctuary. Area between hillocks and the sanctuary includes the watershed area of the sanctuary. The Sanctuary is generally flooded by water during the heavy rains but with salt mining going on in the watershed. Hardly any rain water falling on the hills reach the Sanctuary. Nothing much grew in these parts except the Prosopis juliflora, an invasive plant species that had pushed out native plants.

Flora and Fauna
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.

How to Reach Tal Chappar Sanctuary
This famous bird park is located in the Sujangarh Tehsil of Churu District.
By Road : It is located in the Nokha-Sujangarh state highway and about 85 km from Churu. Tourist can take bus or can hire taxi to reach the Tal Chappar Sanctuary.
By Air : Jaipur Airport is the nearest airport to Tal Chappar Sanctuary about 215 km away.
By Rail : Chappar is the nearest railway station to Tal Chappar Sanctuary and is located in the Degana-Churu-Rewari line.