Kalesar National Park

Kalesar National Park
Haryana, India Show map of Haryana Kalesar National Park (India) Show map of India
Type	National park
Location	Kalesar, Yamunanagar district, Haryana
Coordinates	30°22′N 77°32′E / 30.367°N 77.533°E / 30.367; 77.533
Status	Open
Website	www.haryanaforest.gov.in

Asiatic elephant

is found at Kalesar

Kalesar National Park (13,000 acres (53 km²)) and adjacent Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary (13,209 acres (53.45 km²) are protected areas in Kalesar of

History

Kalesar National Park spread across 13,000 acres (53 km²) was notified on 8 December 2003 and adjacent 13,209 acres (53.45 km²) Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary was notified on 13 December 1996.[5]^[6] However, it is alleged, absence of sufficient funds from the centre is proving to be a hindrance in wildlife conservation in the national park.

Etymology

Kalesar National Park is named after the Kalesar Mahadev temple located in this national park.^[2]

18th and 19th century

Afghan invader

Kalesar Mahadev temple

The ancient Kalesar Mahadev temple takes its name from the a corrupted form of Kaleshwar, a moniker of

. There is also another later era Shiva temple north of Kalesar Mahadev temple.

As part of INR1200 crore Morni to Kalesar tourism development plan announced in January 2019, Government of Haryana is developing this temple, along with Kapal Mochan Tirth, Panchmukhi Hanuman temple of Basatiyawala, Sharda Mata Temple of Chotta Trilokpur and Lohgarh fort capital of Banda Singh Bahadur.^[8]

Colonial Dak Bungalow

This area, excellent for the bird watchers and

. Surrounded with multi-layered gardens, and as typical of the Raj bungalow architecture, there are high-ceiling rooms, exquisite parquet flooring and teak panelling along walls. A fireplace with a mantelpiece above and antique furniture completes the period setting.

Geography

The Kalesar national park and wildlife sanctuary are located on both sides of

Wildlife Safaris

Jeep safaris are available on the following 3 motorable tracks only during the designated park opening months and hours: 20 feet wide route-1 of 7 km, 60 feet wide route-2 of 6.5 km and 60 feet wide route-3 of 6 km.[5] Private vehicles are not allowed on these routes, except only those pre-registered with the wildlife department for the purpose of operating safaris.^[5] Park is closed July to September and during the remaining months visiting hours are 6 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 7 pm during summers, and 7 am to 11 am and 3.30 pm to 6 pm during winters.^[5]

Shivalik foothills

The foothills of

Flora

Dense old forest

Kalesar has 53% dense forest, 38% open forest, 9% scrub. Total forest cover is about 71%. Spread over an area of 11,570 acres (46.8  km²), Kalesar reserve forest is the only one of its kind in Haryana. Besides the tall, leafy

is littered with fallen leaves and foliage plants. Sculptural anthills dot the landscape. There is a long stretch of man-made forest clearing and a 'fire line' which helps in containing forest fires.

Medicinal plants

In the

medicinal tree

plants.

Fauna

Wild animals

of Haryana. All these three sanctuaries have similar species of wild animal that migrate from one sanctuary to another.^[9]

In 2016, survey recorded

Earlier May 2004 survey in collaboration with

etc.

Leopard

In 2016, the annual two-month animal counting survey done by the

Elephants

Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary has natural population of the wild elephants. It is also home to the Ch. Surinder Singh Elephant Rehabilitation Centre (ERC) at Ban Santoor, which is a sanctuary to rehabilitate the rescued abused, exploited and sick elephants.^[11][12] It was set up by the Haryana Forests department in association with an NGO called Wildlife SOS, with the help of Government of India grant under the Project Elephant. ERC has elephant shelters, veterinary services, elephant husbandry and fodder service, elephant walking and exercise trails, etc.^[12] In 2015, it had 3 rescued female elephants, namely Erica, Ella and Lilly.^[11] Wild elephants also roam Kalesar and adjoining Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve spread across Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh. In January 2018, Delhi Forests department planned to rescue all the 7 domesticated elephants of Delhi kept in captivity, 2 of which will be sent to Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary in Haryana and 4 will be sent to Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve in Uttrakhand.^[13]

Wildlife preservation

Eight watering holes have been dug up across the forest area to ensure that the wildlife does not stray into human habitats on its fringes in search of drinking water. Earthen dams have also been constructed to conserve rainwater for use of wildlife. Apart from this, there is proposal of Construction of 8 dams within this sanctuary area which is at the stage of Forest and wildlife clearances which is being taken care by Er. Navneet Kumar from Gaya Bihar working in Haryana Irrigation Department.

There is a plan to build a fence around the area.

Wildlife protection force and courts

As for the steps taken to ensure protection of wildlife and environment, the forest staff have been given weapons by the state government to tackle the menace posed by poachers. The state had also set up two special environmental courts in Kurukshetra and Faridabad to deal with crimes related to poaching and illicit felling of trees from the area.

Monitoring and census cameras

The Forests Department, Haryana, with funding provided by the Wildlife Institute of India, installed 80 cameras at 40 locations across the park in December 2014, primarily to monitor the movements of tigers, leopards and other animals in the park, as well as to conduct annual two-month long animal species and animal count survey.^[3][6]

Gallery

• 
  Indian leopard is found here
• 
  Elephant
• 
  Indian hare is found at Kalesar
• 
  Indian grey mongoose is found at Kalesar
• 
  Indian crested porcupine is found at Kalesar
• 
  Wild boar
• 
  Langur monkey
• 
  Rhesus macaque
• 
  Indian robin

References

See also

• Ch. Devi Lal Herbal Nature Park
• List of National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries of Haryana, India
• List of national parks of India
• Wildlife sanctuaries of India

Citations