{"id":32465,"date":"2023-02-07T02:31:59","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T21:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=32465"},"modified":"2025-04-19T13:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T07:38:41","slug":"keoladeo-national-park-rajasthan-plans-zoo-inside-bharatpur-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/keoladeo-national-park-rajasthan-plans-zoo-inside-bharatpur-sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"Keoladeo National Park: Rajasthan plans zoo inside Bharatpur Sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About the Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park:\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Purpose of the Zoo (WESCE)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What Concerns have been Raised Regarding WESCE?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Rajasthan state Forest Department has proposed to construct a zoo inside Keoladeo National Park, <strong>a World Heritage Site formerly\/popularly known as Bharatpur bird sanctuary.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The purpose of this zoo, called<strong> Wetland ex-situ Conservation Establishment <\/strong>(WESCE), is to display a range of wetland species<strong>,<\/strong> including rhinos, water buffaloes, crocs, dolphins and exotic species.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About the Keoladeo National Park<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/zvFKrNKlxhCQkgR9aRtb_0If7DcKf7H4ioZoiCHaczhDXfXKYEvBosyrT-2nWrOkPjfTxzzUSLNs9a4vqoFLHq9T7FFT5IlQDr19Vbx1Eo4ugpo8GOoo5dFYIwi9HfBDETYcPFDIOMRAHT7mCkjTFg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nImage Caption: Keoladeo National Park<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The 29 km<sup>2<\/sup> reserve (locally known as Ghana) is a famous <strong>avifauna sanctuary <\/strong>in Bharatpur (Rajasthan, India), that is known for its rich biological diversity and that hosts thousands of birds, especially during the winter season.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It was notified as a bird sanctuary in 1956 and established as <strong>a national park in 1982<\/strong> and is also a <strong>World Heritage Site<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>a wetland <\/strong>(man-made and man-managed)<strong> of international importance<\/strong> (a Ramsar site) for migratory waterfowl, where birds migrating down the <strong>Central Asian flyway<\/strong> congregate.<\/li>\n<li>At time of inscription, it was the wintering ground for the <strong>Critically Endangered Siberian Crane<\/strong>, and is habitat for large numbers of resident nesting birds.<\/li>\n<li>This is the <strong>only park in India<\/strong> that is completely enclosed by a 2 m high boundary wall that minimises the possibilities of any encroachment and biotic disturbances, <strong>but there is no possibility of a buffer zone.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What will be the Purpose of the Zoo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>According to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Rajasthan Forestry and Biodiversity Development Project (RFBDP), the WESCE aims &#8211;\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>To rejuvenate the biodiversity of Keoladeo National Park<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Thereby <strong>boosting its outstanding universal values<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Rs 15-crore WESCE plan<\/strong> is part of the ambitious RFBDP for which Agence Fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9veloppement (AFD), the overseas development arm of the <strong>French government, <\/strong>has agreed to fund up to Rs 12 crore over eight years.<\/li>\n<li>According to the DPR, several facilities are planned inside Keoladeo national park, including &#8211;<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>breeding and reintroduction centre for locally extinct species<\/strong> (otters, fishing cats, blackbucks, hog deer, etc).<\/li>\n<li><strong>An aquarium for indigenous species <\/strong>like Gangetic Dolphin, crocodiles; enclosures for the display of large wetland species like Indian Rhino, Water Buffalo, Barasingha (swamp deer); etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/strong><strong>What Concerns have been Raised Regarding WESCE?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Experts have raised questions about the proposed zoo coming up in<strong> a globally significant habitat for migratory birds.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Out of concern, the forest department has decided t<strong>o move the construction work 1-2 km away from the (national park) boundary<\/strong> where there is adequate forest land.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the Wetland ex-situ Conservation Establishment (WESCE)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>WESCE is a zoo planned inside Keoladeo National Park, a World Heritage Site formerly\/popularly known as Bharatpur bird sanctuary. The purpose of this zoo is to display a range of wetland species, including rhinos, water buffaloes, crocs, dolphins and exotic species.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is unique about the Keoladeo National Park?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It is a wetland (man-made and man-managed) of international importance (a Ramsar site) for migratory waterfowl, where birds migrating down the Central Asian flyway congregate. This is the only park in India that is completely enclosed by a 2 m high boundary wall, but there is no possibility of a buffer zone.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/rajasthan-plans-zoo-for-dolphins-rhinos-inside-bharatpur-sanctuary-8428022\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Rajasthan plans zoo for dolphins, rhinos inside Bharatpur sanctuary<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwfindia.org\/about_wwf\/critical_regions\/wetlands\/bharatpur2\/about_bharatpur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>WWF India<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/whc.unesco.org\/en\/list\/340\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>UNESCO<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Keoladeo National Park is a famous avifauna sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}