Recently, a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court has ordered a “complete prohibition” on any action to reduce the Tal Chhapar blackbuck sanctuary’s area.
- The court took cognisance of reports that its area was going to be reduced to three sq. km. under pressure from mine owners and stone crusher operators.
- Tal Chhapar blackbuck sanctuary, spread in an area measuring 7.19 sq. km., is located in Rajasthan’s Churu district.
- The sanctuary is host to about 4,000 blackbucks and other wild animals, over 40 species of raptors and more than 300 species of resident and migratory birds.
- The raptors, which include predators and scavengers, are on top of the food chain and control the populations of small mammals, birds and reptiles as well as insects.
- The sanctuary earlier had a large population of desert foxes and similar burrowing animals, while the large colonies of the only herbivorous lizard, the spiny-tailed lizard, exist as the prey base for raptors.
- The concerns confronting the sanctuary include hyper-aridity, grazing pressure, the invasive weed Prosopis juliflora, and salt mines in the vicinity. The sanctuary’s area is insufficient for its large blackbuck population.
