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Rajasthan is a haven for a wide spectrum of wildlife. The topography of Rajasthan ranges from the barren desert, scrub-thorn arid forests, rocks and ravines to wetlands and lush, green forests. And each of these areas houses a large variety of animal and bird life. Some of them are rare while some are endangered. The state is the home of tigers, black bucks, chinkara, the rare desert fox, the endangered caracal, the great Indian bustard, gavial, monitor lizard, wild boars, and porcupine. Migratory birds like the common crane, ducks, coots, pelicans and the rare Siberian cranes, imperial sand grouse, falcons and buzzards flocks to this state during the winter months. Typical areas representing each of the ecosystems have been earmarked as special areas wildlife. Rajasthan boasts of two National Parks, over a dozen Sanctuaries and two Closed Areas. Most of these areas are open to visitors round the year but are closed briefly during the monsoon.
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Sariska
became a sanctuary in the year 1958, came under the project Tiger in
1979 and became a national park in 1982. It is located at Kankwari
fort, near Alwar, on the Delhi Jaipur Highway. The terrain is
predominantly hilly, as it lies in the Aravalli range. It has a total
area of 788 sq kilometers, with a core area of approx. 47sq
kilometers. The carnivores of the area are panther, jungle cat, jackal
and hyena. Three caracals were also reported during the last census in
1985. Other animals include the sambhar, chital, wild boar, hare,
nilgai and umpteen porcupines. The birdlife comprises of the peafowl,
gray partridge, quail, sand grouse, tree pie, white-breasted
kingfisher, golden woodpecker and great Indian horned owl. Visit:
November & March is the best period to visit.
Near
the township of Sawai Madhopur, Ranthambore National Park is an
outstanding example of Project Tiger's efforts at conservation in the
country. The forests around the Ranthambore Fort were once, the
private hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur. The desire to
preserve them was responsible for their conservation, and subsequent
rescue by Project Tiger. The Park sprawls over an estimated area of
400 sq. kms. Steep crags embrace a network of lakes and rivers, and
atop one of these hills, is the impressive Ranthambore Fort, built in
the 10th century. The terrain fluctuates open bushland and impregnable
forest, mostly of dry deciduous type. The entry point to the Park goes
straight to the foot of the fort and the forest rest house, Jogi Mahal.
The latter boasts of the second-largest banyan tree in India. The
Padam Talab, the Raj Bagh Talab and the Milak Talab are some of the
lakes in the area that attract the wildlife population. The entire
forest is peppered with the battlements and spillovers of the
Ranthambore Fort. Ranthambhor is approachable both by rail (132 km)
and road (180 km) from Jaipur. It is situated 14 km from Sawai
Madhopur railway station on Delhi- Bombay trunk route.
Over
350 species of birds find a refuge in the 29 sq km of shallow lakes
and woodland, which makes up the park. A third of them are migrants,
many of whom spend their winters in Bharatpur, before returning to
their breeding grounds, as far away as Siberia and Central Asia.
Migratory birds at Keoladeo include, as large a bird as Dalmatian
pelican, which is slightly less than two meters, and as small a bird
as Siberian dusky leaf warbler, which is the size of a finger. Other
migrants include several species of cranes, pelicans, geese, ducks,
eagles, hawks, shanks, stints, wagtails, warblers, wheatears,
flycatchers, buntings, larks and pipits, etc. But of all the migrants,
the most sought after is the Siberian Crane or the great white crane,
which migrates to this site every year, covering a distance of more
than half the globe. These birds, numbering only a few hundred, are on
the verge of extinction. It is birds from the western race of the
species that visit Keoladeo, migrating from the Ob river basin region,
in the Aral Mountains, in Siberia via Afghanistan and Pakistan. There
are only two wintering places, left for this extremely rare species.
One is in Feredunkenar in Iran, and the other is Keoladeo Ghana. The
journey to Bharatpur takes them 6,400 kms from their breeding grounds,
in Siberia. They arrive in December and stay till early March. Unlike
Indian cranes, the Siberian crane is entirely vegetarian. It feeds on
underground aquatic roots and tubers in loose flocks of five or six.
The
vast tracts of desert sands around Jaisalmer, with their wood fossils,
have become the Desert National Park. The desert has a fragile
eco-system that has a unique variety of wildlife species. These
include the somewhat ungainly bird the Great Indian Bustard, which,
because of this effort, has made a comeback in recent decades, though
it is still on the endangered list. 
It is a vast saline tract spread
over 820 Hectares at a distance of 12 km from Sujangarh and 170 km
from Bikaner (on Bikaner-Jaipur Road) where some 400 black bucks (the
rare and vanishing variety of antelopes) can be seen with a background
of mirage. Originally a game preserve of Maharaja of Bikaner, it was
declared "protected area" under the Rajasthan Wild Animals and Birds
Protection Act in 1962. It is interesting to see how the Bucks command
their 'harems' and in what sportsman like manner they win or lose some
of the inmates and the young ones are reared up.