Kutch Bustard Sanctuary

Kutch Bustard Sanctuary or Kachchh Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary, also known as Lala–Parjan Sanctuary, is located near Jakhau village in Nalia Taluka, Kutch District, Gujarat, India. This sanctuary is one of the two great Indian bustard sanctuaries in Gujarat; the other one is in Jamnagar. It was declared as a sanctuary in July 1992, specifically for the conservation of the great Indian bustard, the heaviest flying bird belonging to the avian family of Otididae. However, the sanctuary presently legally covers a protected area of about 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) of area (202.86 hectares (501.3 acres) of fenced land only and is the smallest sanctuary in the country. Several suggestions have been made to vastly increase the size of this sanctuary as it is a breeding ground of the endangered great Indian bustard. The reason is that its ecological zone is much larger on account of anthropogenic and cattle population pressure that are considered as a ‘biotic threat’ to this omnivorous species.

Apart from the Great Indian Bustard, the Kutch Bustard Sanctuary houses 20 other species of birds, namely, McQueen's Bustard, Lesser Florican, Stoliczkas, Bushchats, Merlins are some of the species to be spotted here. The co-existance of jungle cats, chinkaras, harriers and desert cats with the bustards, eagles, and other migratory birds more or less make a complete picture of the Wildlife in Gujarat.