Keoladeo Ghana National Park

red-wattled lapwing

Keoladeo Ghana National Park, also called Bharatpur National Park, wildlife sanctuary in eastern Rajasthan state, northwestern India, just south of the city of Bharatpur. It was founded in the late 19th century as a hunting preserve by Suraj Mal, the maharaja of Bharatpur princely state, and became a bird sanctuary in 1956. Declared a national park in 1981, it was renamed Keoladeo for the ancient temple in the park dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Woodlands, swamps, and wet grasslands cover a large part of the park, which has an area of 11 square miles (29 square km).

Keoladeo is home to more than 360 species of permanent and migratory birds. During the annual period of migratory visitors (about October to March), birds from throughout the world can be found in the park. Among those wintering in the park are waterfowl from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Siberia, including species such as gadwalls, shovellers, common teals, tufted ducks, pintails, white spoonbills, Asian open-billed storks, Oriental ibises, and the rare (possibly extinct) Siberian crane. The park is also home to a range of mammals and reptiles—including pythons and other snakes, deer, sambars, blackbucks, jackals, monitor lizards, and fishing cats—as well as some 50 species of fish and 25 species of butterflies. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.