Keoladeo Ghana name signifies the location of the temple of Lord Shiva (Keoladeo) in the centre of the Park and dense (ghana) forest covering the area. It's a soggy green paradise, an ideal home for a large variety of birds.

Scores of migratory species undertake a perilous journey over the Himalayas to make a seasonal home in this wetland ecosystem, the most famous of them being the magnificent but nearly extinct Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus). This interlocking ecosystem of woodlands, swamps, wet prairies and dry Savannah is considered to be one of the world's richest heronries, where thousands of birds get busy courting, mating and nesting.

Location: Bharatpur in Rajasthan, India

Nearest Access: Bharatpur is the nearest Railhead

Wildlife Attractions: Resident and Migratory Birds

Best Time to Visit: All through the Year

Area Covered:     About 29 Sq Kms

The main attractions for tourists visiting the Keoladeo Ghana Park are the migratory birds, which come from as far away as Siberia and Central Asia to spend their winters in Bharatpur, before returning back to their breeding grounds. Some of the migratory birds that visit Keoladeo /Bharatpur bird sanctuary include several species of Cranes, Hawks, Pelicans, Geese, Shanks, Ducks, Eagles, Warblers, Stints, Wagtails, Buntings, Wheatears, Flycatchers, Larks, Pipits etc. Besides the migratory and resident birds, other tourist attractions in Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary include the Bharatpur government Museum, Lohagarh Fort and Deeg Palace.

There are many reasons to this lamentable depletion. A pair of breeding cranes raise only one chick a year, and though the adult stands more than a mighty four feet tall, the tiny young ones often become the food for predatory shorebirds, gulls and dogs. En route their migration to Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary they have to face dangers that are even more dangerous than the hostile terrain – guns. Every year many of these birds are shot down in Afghanistan and Pakistan, despite protective laws in these countries. The remaining few alive reach Bharatpur exhausted, only to find that there's no food for them any more! Courtesy, the Forest Department's brilliant policies.
What happened was this. In 1982 the Forest Department declared, in all sincerity, that villagers be moved out of the park with their bag and baggage. They believed that the buffaloes owned by these villagers were readily depleting the Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary's resources. But what the officials did not realize was that these buffaloes also ate up a lot of those weeds which were harmful for the growth of the cranes' food plants.