Cholistan Wildlife Sanctuary

Cholistan Wildlife Sanctuary
Location	Cholistan Desert, Punjab, Pakistan
Nearest city	Bahawalpur
Coordinates	28.940°N 72.132°E / 28.940; 72.132
Area	26,000 km2 (10,000 sq mi)

Cholistan Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Punjab, Pakistan. It comprises 2.6 million hectares.

Topography

This desert can be classified into two geomorphic zones based on its topography, the territory of the northern section, known as Lesser Cholistan, is around 7,770 km2, bordering canal-irrigated areas, while the area of the southern region, known as Greater Cholistan, is 18,130 km2. Low sandy ridges alternate with salty alluvial flats, known locally as dahars, to form the smaller Cholistan. Saline or saline-sodic soils are the two categories into which these soils fall, with pH values varying from 8.2 to 8.4 and from 8.8 to 9.6, respectively. The Greater Cholistan consists of river terraces, sizable sand dunes, and depressions. It is a wind-sorted sandy desert. The dunes are approximately 100 metres tall on average.

The region experiences a wide range of temperatures, with summers potentially reaching over 50°C. The temperature difference between day and night is significant. The region experiences sporadic, erratic, and sparse rainfall, often between 100 and 250 mm, primarily during the monsoon season.

Flora and fauna

Fauna

List of fauna found in the sanctuary.

Mammals

#	Name	Scientific name	Picture
1	Caracal	Caracal caracal
2	Jungle cat	Felis chaus
3	Indian grey mongoose	Urva edwardsii
4	Asiatic wildcat	Felis lybica ornata
5	Indian jackal	Canis aureus indicus
6	Bengal fox	Vulpes bengalensis
7	Long-eared hedgehog	Hemiechinus auritus
8	Chinkara	Gazella bennettii
9	Nilgai	Boselaphus tragocamelus
10	Indian ratel	Mellivora capensis indica
11	Indian crested porcupine	Hystrix indica
12	Indian hare	Lepus nigricollis
13	Arabian wolf	Canis lupus arabs
14	Indian boar	Sus scrofa cristatus
15	White-footed fox	Vulpes vulpes pusilla
16	Small Indian mongoose	Urva auropunctata
17	Small Indian civet	Viverricula indica

Birds

#	Name	Scientific name	Picture
1	Grey francolin	Ortygornis pondicerianus
2	Desert lark	Ammomanes deserti
3	Common starling	Sturnus vulgaris
4	Houbara bustard	Chlamydotis undulata
5	Great Indian bustard	Ardeotis nigriceps
6	Black-bellied sandgrouse	Pterocles orientalis
7	Great grey shrike	Lanius excubitor
8	Spotted owlet	Athene brama
9	Laggar falcon	Falco jugger
10	Saker falcon	Falco cherrug
11	Common buzzard	Buteo buteo
12	Eurasian sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
13	Tawny eagle	Aquila rapax
14	Pallid harrier	Circus macrourus
15	Eurasian collared dove	Streptopelia decaocto
16	Cinereous vulture	Aegypius monachus

Amphibians & reptiles

#	Name	Scientific name	Picture
1	Indian marbled toad	Duttaphrynus stomaticus
2	Common skittering frog	Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis
3	Indian bullfrog	Hoplobatrachus tigerinus
4	Indian burrowing frog	Sphaerotheca breviceps
5	Black pond turtle	Geoclemys hamiltonii
6	Brown roofed turtle	Pangshura smithii
7	Indian roofed turtle	Pangshura tecta
8	Indian flapshell turtle	Lissemys punctata
9	Indian softshell turtle	Nilssonia gangetica
10	Oriental garden lizard	Calotes versicolor
11	Brilliant ground agama	Trapelus agilis pakistanensis	–
12	Afghan ground agama	Trapelus megalonyx	–
13	Indian spiny-tailed lizard	Uromastyx hardwickii
14	Sind gecko	Crossobamon orientalis	–
15	Rough-tailed gecko	Cyrtopodion scaber
16	Yellow-belly gecko	Hemidactylus flaviviridis
17	Leschenault's leaf-toed gecko	Hemidactylus leschenaultii
18	Indian fringe-fingered lizard	Acanthodactylus cantoris
19	Eremias cholistanica	Eremias cholistanica	–
20	Persian long-tailed desert lizard	Mesalina watsonana
21	Striped mole skink	Eumeces indothalensis	–
22	Ribbon-sided skink	Eurylepis taeniolata

#	Name	Scientific name	Picture
23	Indian three-banded skink	Eutropis trivittata	–
24	Bronze grass skink	Eutropis macularia
25	Three-toed snake skink	Ophiomorus tridactylus	–
26	Bengal monitor	Varanus bengalensis
27	Indian desert monitor	Varanus griseus koniecznyi	–
28	Sindh thread snake	Myriopholis blanfordi	–
29	Long-nosed worm snake	Myriopholis macrorhyncha
30	Slender worm snake	Indotyphlops porrectus	–
31	Indian sand boa	Eryx johnii
32	Indian gamma snake	Boiga trigonata
33	Common cliff racer	Platyceps rhodorachis
34	Hardwicke's rat snake	Platyceps ventromaculatus
35	Dotted dwarf racer	Eirenis punctatolineatus
36	Sind longnose sand snake	Lytorhynchus paradoxus	–
37	Pakistan sand racer	Psammophis leithii	–
38	Steppe ribbon racer	Psammophis lineolatus
39	Red-spotted diadem snake	Spalerosophis arenarius	–
40	Black headed royal snake	Spalerosophis atriceps
41	Checkered keelback	Xenochrophis piscator
42	Indian cobra	Naja naja
43	Sind krait	Bungarus sindanus
44	Eastern saw-scaled viper	Echis carinatus sochureki