Location: The Tal Chappar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the Sujangarh Tehsil of Churu District, in the North-East part of Rajasthan. It is situated at a distance of 85 KM from Churu , about 132 Km from Bikaner. and 220 km from Jaipur and  lies on Nokha- Sujangarh state Highway. The nearest Railway station is Chapper which lies on Degana – Churu – Rewari metre gauge line of Northen Western Railways.    Tal Chhapar Sanctuary in Churu district is famous for black-bucks. Talchhapar wildlife sanctuary is a unique sanctuary having a good population of Black buck in a small area of 719 ha. The sanctuary houses nearly 1680 Black Bucks in a small area. This is a natural home of Blackbucks and one can easily encounter 500-700 animals in a single herd. It is the only sanctuary in India in which houses a good population of blackbucks in an almost tree-less, saline and flat-land.    The Black bucks is the sole representative in India of the Genus Antelope. Its striking colour and its beautiful spiralled horns which may reach the shoulder height o f the animal, gave it an elegance hardly equalled by any antelope. This exclusively Indian animals is the most beautiful of all its kinds. The upper part of mature male Blackbuck has black fur on rump and white fur on the chest belly, chin and inner side of there legs. They have white rings around their eyes and have long ringed spiral horns with three to four turns which reaches upto 28 inches. The males are born light brown and turn black after three years after attaining sexual maturity. Female Blackbuck are smaller light brown, do not have horns. Black Bucks are usually seen in herds of 25-30, but in summer months large herds can also been seen.

Increasing number of tuorists Year     Indian   Foreign  04-05    649        34  05-06   2178        26  06-07   4195      584   The black bucks

Tal Chappar is situated in North-Western Rajasthan and thus lies on the way of the migratory passage of many birds. The most spectacular migration seen from here is that of harries. These birds pass through this area during the month of September. Montagur’s and marsh harrier are more common, while pale harrier and ben harrier are found in lesser numbers. Besides these imperial eagle, tawny eagle, short toed eagle, sparrow hawk are common here. The other birds commonly seen here are skylark, crested lark, ring drove, brown dove, blue jay, green bee eaters, black ibis and demoiselle cranes which stay there till March.

In a very small area of Tal Chapper Sanctuary the animals frequently encountered are the desert fox, Jungle Cat, Black Naped Hare, Neelgai, Jackal, Chinkara etc. with Black Buck being the main herbivore.   Kurja (Demoiselle Cranes)    The queen of Rajasthan Folk geets      kurja (demoiselle crane) the migratory bird from far off countries as Siberia, Magnolia, Tajikistan, central Asia,  etc starts to migrate in the month of September.    The Demoiselle is 85-100 cm long with a 155-180 cm wingspan. It is therefore slightly smaller than the Common Crane, with similar plumage. However it has a long white neck stripe and the black on the fore neck extends down over the chest in a plume. It has a loud trumpeting call, higher-pitched than the Common Crane. Like other cranes it has a dancing display, more balletic than the Common Crane, with less leaping.   Demoiselle cranes have to take one of the toughest migrations in the world. In late August through September, they gather in flocks of up to 400 individuals and prepare for their flight to their winter range. During their migratory  flight south, demoiselles fly like all cranes, with their head and neck straight forward and their feet and legs straight behind, reaching altitudes of 16,000-26,000 feet (4,875- 7,925 m). Along their arduous journey they have to cross the Himalayan mountains to get to their over wintering grounds in India, many die from fatigue, hunger and predation from birds such as eagles.    They stay at Tal Chapper  up to the month of March. Every  year their numbers varies between 1500-2000. In the year 2001 their number reached up to 5000.

Kurja (Demoiselle Crane)      Kurja migrates from far off Siberia, Tajikistan, Magnolia, Central Asia to Tal Chapper in the  month September.

According to a news published in Hindustan times on April 27, 2006:  "Close to half a dozen blackbucks are getting killed each day by stray dogs, while proaching activity has also been on a rapid increase in past months and blackbuck meat is being sold in around the Churu district". Such suggestions are contained in a report lately sent to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) by the former Honorary Wildlife Warden of Churu, Shyam Sharma.    A serious anomaly about the administration of Tal Chapper sanctuary is the fact that it is the only sanctuary in the state that does not come under the jurisdiction of the Wildlife department and is maintained by the staff deployed for under the Desert Development Programme (DDP). Minister of Environment and Forest LaxmiNarain Dave said he would shortly tour the sanctuary to "sort out issue"

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