# Tal Chhapar Sanctuary > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary > Source revision: 1340226532 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Protected area in Rajasthan, India This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tal Chhapar Sanctuary" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Tal Chhapar Sanctuary IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) Tawny eagle at Tal Chhapar Sanctuary Location in Rajasthan, India Interactive map of Tal Chhapar Sanctuary Location Churu District, Rajasthan, India Nearest city Chhapar Coordinates 27°47′53″N 74°26′06″E / 27.798141°N 74.434937°E / 27.798141; 74.434937 Established 1971[1] Governing body Government of Rajasthan **Tal Chhapar Sanctuary** is a [wildlife sanctuary](/source/Wildlife_sanctuary) in the [Churu district](/source/Churu_district) of northwestern [Rajasthan](/source/Rajasthan), in the [Shekhawati](/source/Shekhawati) region of [India](/source/India). It is known for [blackbucks](/source/Blackbuck) and is also home to a variety of [birds](/source/Birds). It is situated on the fringe of the Great Indian Desert and between [Ratangarh](/source/Ratangarh%2C_Churu) and [Sujangarh](/source/Sujangarh) on the [Nokha](/source/Nokha%2C_Bikaner)-[Sujangarh](/source/Sujangarh) state highway. ## Geography and geology The sanctuary is named after [Chhapar](/source/Chhapar) village which is located at 27°-50' North and 74°-25' East. It is a flat saline depression locally known as a "tal" that has a unique [ecosystem](/source/Ecosystem) in the heart of the [Thar Desert](/source/Thar_Desert). It is at a height of 302 metres[2] (990 feet) above sea level, and covers 719 hectares.[2] Tal Chhaper Sanctuary, with almost flat tract and interspersed shallow low-lying areas, has open grassland with scattered *[Acacia](/source/Acacia)* and *[Prosopis](/source/Prosopis)* trees which give it an appearance of a typical [savanna](/source/Savanna). The word "tal" means pond or 'talab' in Hindi. The rain water flows through shallow low-lying areas and collect in the small seasonal water ponds. The geology of the zone is obscured by the wind blown over-burden. Some small hillocks and exposed rocks of slate and quartzite are found in the western side of the sanctuary. The area between hillocks and the sanctuary constitutes the watershed area of the sanctuary. The whole sanctuary used to be flooded by water during the heavy rains but with salt mining going on in the watershed, hardly any rain falling on the hillocks reaches the sanctuary. Nearby villages are Jogalia, Jaitasar, Bidasar. ## Flora and fauna Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) Southern grey shrike Indian spotted creeper feeding Tal Chhapar Sanctuary lies on the passageway of many [migratory birds](/source/Migratory_birds), which pass through this area in September and stay until March. These include [eastern imperial eagle](/source/Eastern_imperial_eagle), [tawny eagle](/source/Tawny_eagle), [short-toed eagle](/source/Short-toed_eagle), [cream-coloured courser](/source/Cream-coloured_courser), [Old World sparrows](/source/Old_World_sparrow), [little green bee-eater](/source/Little_green_bee-eater), [black ibis](/source/Black_ibis) and [demoiselle crane](/source/Demoiselle_crane). Resident birds include the [skylark](/source/Skylark), [crested lark](/source/Crested_lark), [Eurasian collared dove](/source/Eurasian_collared_dove) and brown doves.[3] ## Climate This region is characterized by a distinct winter (from October to February), summer (March to June) and monsoon (July to September). The zone has a dry climate with a large variation in temperature, wind blows south – west during summer. In May and June winds become very hot and that is called "loo". The maximum temperature reaches up to 48 °C (118 °F) in June and the minimum temperature falls to 10 °C (50 °F) in December – January. The Tal Chhapar Zone comes under the principal arid zone of the country. Rainfall in this region is highly erratic. There is a large variation in mean annual rainfall in this region. The average rainfall in this region ranges between 300 and 450 mm. ## See also - [Arid Forest Research Institute](/source/Arid_Forest_Research_Institute) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Tal Chhapar Sanctuary & Wildlife"](https://www.wildvoyager.com/destinations/india/tal-chhapar). Wild Voyager. Retrieved 13 December 2017. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-TCS_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-TCS_2-1) ["Tal Chapar Sanctuary"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120205204658/http://www.rajasthantourism.gov.in/Attractions/EcoTourismZones/TalChaparSanctuary.aspx). rajasthantourism.gov.in. 29 February 2012. Archived from [the original](http://rajasthantourism.gov.in/Attractions/EcoTourismZones/TalChaparSanctuary.aspx) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Khan, A. N. (2015). ["Birding in north-west India"](http://www.bnhsenvis.nic.in/PublicationArchiveDetails.aspx?SubLinkId=168&LinkId=754&Year=2015). *Buceros*. **20** (1): 10–17. ## External links --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tal Chhapar Sanctuary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tal_Chhapar_Sanctuary?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.