Context: Hearing a plea concerning encroachment and non-forest activities in the southern ridge forest, the Delhi High court was told by amicus curiae appointed in the matter that Delhi’s government’s forest department is going to organize a “cyclothon and walkathon” inside Asola wildlife sanctuary.
About Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary
- Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary located on the south-eastern boundary of Delhi.
- It is the only protected area representing the northeastern, rolling outliers as a landform of the country’s oldest hill ranges, the Aravallis. Thus, it geographically represents a landform not earlier represented in the national Protected Area Network.
- This urban sanctuary could be a role model for all the conservation work undertaken by the Department of Forests & Wildlife GNCT of Delhi.
- Note: Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary is the only wildlife sanctuary in Delhi. There are no national parks in Delhi.
Climate
- The climate of the sanctuary is mainly influenced by its remote inland position and prevalence of air of continental character, which is characterized by extreme summer heat alternating with great winter cold.
- Such a type of climate is unfavorable for the growth of luxuriant vegetation.
- The climate is of semiarid nature due to marked diurnal differences of temperatures, high saturation deficit and moderately low rainfall.
Vegetation
- The vegetation of Asola Bhatti is semi-arid thorny scrub and falls under Northern Tropical Thorn Forests type (Champion & Seth).
- The native vegetation can be broadly classified into four forest (vegetation) types namely Dhau (Anogeissus pendula) Forest, Kumtha (Senegalia senegal) Forest, Palash (Butea monosperma) Forest and Grasslands representing native vegetation found on slopes of hills, degraded forests, forest in the valleys and savannah landscape in open areas respectively.
- Keekar (Prosopis juliflora), which is native to Mexico, appears to have been established in barren, degraded areas, and areas near human settlements. Large thickets of Prosopis juliflora forms the main vegetal cover in the wildlife sanctuary.
Faunal Diversity
- Mammals: Recorded 25 species of mammals including Leopard, Striped Hyena, Nilgai Golden Jackal, Jungle Cat, Ruddy Mongoose and Fruit Bat.
- Birds: This wildlife sanctuary revealed the presence of 250 species and 2 subspecies, the presence of critically endangered Red-headed Vulture, endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, vulnerable Greater Spotted Eagle and Indian Spotted Eagle.
- Reptiles: 24 reptile species were recorded in our surveys including Indian Cobra, Saw-scaled Viper, Rock Python, Bengal Monitor Lizard (Varanus bengalensis), Leopard Gecko and Red Sand Boa.
Historical and Cultural Significance
- Historical places around sanctuary are Surajkund and Anangpur Dam (both in Haryana), Tughlaqabad Fort and Adilabad ruins (both in Delhi), Chhatarpur Temple (in Delhi).
- There are several dozen lakes formed in the abandoned open pit mines in and around the sanctuary.
- It is contiguous to the seasonal waterfalls in Pali-Dhuaj-Kot villages of Faridabad and the sacred Mangar Bani.
Masai Mara
- Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
- It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin.
- Their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara" means "spotted" in the local Maasai language, due to the many short bushy trees which dot the landscape.
- Maasai Mara is one of the wildlife conservation and wilderness areas in Africa, with its populations of lion, leopard, cheetah, and African bush elephant.
- It also hosts the Great Migration, which secured it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, and as one of the ten Wonders of the World.
Serengeti National Park
- Location: Eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains virgin savanna in northern Tanzania.
- Serengeti is well known for largest annual animal migration in the world of over 1.5 million blue wildebeest and 250,000 zebras along with smaller herds of Thomson's gazelle and eland.
- This national park is also home to the largest lion population in Africa.
- It is under threat from deforestation, population growth and ranching.