Little Rann Wild Ass Sanctuary

Little Rann Wild Ass Sanctuary

State : Gujarat Area : 4,954 sq. km Altitude: 200 - 350 m Vegetation : Saline Mud flats, Scrubs & Marshes

Probably the largest wild life sanctuary in India with an area of approx 4950 sq. KM, Little Rann of Kutch is one of the most remarkable and unique landscape of its kind in the entire world and renowned for the Asiatic  Wild Asses and an UNESCO Natural Heritage site.

The Little Rann is a flat limitless expanse of dry, cracking mud, with clumps of bushes. The enormous sense of open space one experiences here is surreally mind boggling.

Little Rann of Kutch is famous for its resident handsome chestnut brown Asiatic wild ass hordes that trample around in the arid landscape. Don’t confuse them with the domesticated beasts of burden leaving a sorry life at our behest. These are rather large muscular animals running gracefully at a shy distance over the flatlands of Rann.

Accessible via Dasada village, the Rann of Kutch is located in the Thar Desert province in the northwestern parts of Gujarat state and the Sind province in Pakistan. 

Established in 1972 when the wild asses were in danger of extinction. Conservation efforts led to a remarkable recovery.with an area spanning around 4,950 sq. km. The Little Rann of Kutch is a wildlife sanctuary which protects the Asiatic wild ass.s age site.
 According to a survey there is only around 2,800 Asiatic wild asses left who largely depend on the few grassy islands nourished by the monsoon rains. An estimated 60 percentage of the salt is manufactured here.

The region is unique as it not only has a wild ass sanctuary, but also a place where over one hundred thousand flamingos breed every year.   It would be a memorable experience to go wading knee-deep into the warm waters of a salt marsh with thousands of flamingos’ around. Life is tough in the Rann with very limited option to eke out a living. Little and great Rann is India’s largest salt pan . The local tribes also depend on this land for their livelihood on salt during the dry season  and on fish during the wet seasons.  While on a visit to the Rann it is advisable to visit the tribes and understand their life and difficulties. 

Avifauna : Little Rann of Kutch is a place to see birds in numbers. Over 200 bird species have been recorded in the area. Breeding species include India's only known nesting colony of the Lesser Flamingo. Other key species consist of European Roller, McQueen’s Bustard, Lesser Florican, Demoiselle Crane, Common Crane, Spotted Sandgrouse, Red-necked Phalarope, Cream-colored Courser, Sociable Lapwing, Collared Pratincole, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Spotted Eagle, a variety of harriers, Greater Flamingo, Dalmatian Pelican, White Stork, Greater Hoopoe Lark and Sykes’s Lark.

Main Attraction : Wild Ass, Desert fox, Wolf, Jackal and birding.