Thread by @unhotelier

1. What comes to your mind when you hear 'Chambal'?

Daku/dacoits - right?

Up to the early 2000s, organized crime controlled Chambal across MP, Rajasthan, Haryana, and UP.

Today we talk not of extinct dacoits, but endangered wildlife.
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#chambal #thugs #endangeredwildlife

2. Apart from the बीहड़ badlands, it has the National Chambal Sanctuary.

A 5,400 km2 protected area for the critically endangered gharial, the red-crowned roof turtle and the Ganges river dolphin.
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#chambal #indianwildlife #crocodile

3. The sanctuary runs across UP, MP and Rajasthan.

In 1978, Madhya Pradesh declared it an eco-reserve. Today, it is co-administered by the three states.
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#ecoretreat #wildlifesanctuary

4. The gharials live in freshwater rivers and congregate at deep river bends.

On moist sandbanks, it basks and nests, leaving the water only for nest building.

Adults mate at the end of the cold season.
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5. Today, the wild gharial population is about 2% of what it was in the 1930s.

Conservancy programmes have reintroduced captive-bred gharials in India and Nepal since the 1980s.
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#wildlifeconservation #endangered

6. A 4,000-year-old depiction of the Gharial was even found in the Indus Valley.
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#indusvalley

7. Chambal Sanctuary is also home to endangered Gangetic dolphins.

Dolphins are not only India's national aquatic animal but also the official mascot of Guwahati! Did you know that?
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#gangeticdolphins #endangered #Guwahati

8. Unlike the usual dolphin acrobatics we see, the Gangetic dolphin is not known for its friendly nature or acrobatic manoeuvres around boats.

They are actually quite shy and hard to observe!
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9. In Bihar, a stretch of the Ganges River between Sultanganj and Kahlgaon has been declared a dolphin sanctuary, the first of its kind.
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#Bihar #Ganga

10 Back to Chambal.

The 600-year-old Bateshwar Temple offers calm and peace for spiritual seekers! This temple complex once had 108 Shiv temples.

Every year, the village grounds host a religious and animal fair (next to Sonpur).
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#spiritualawakening

11. Our Unhotel in Bah, is a jungle lodge. It is situated amid lush greenery and was constructed in the late 1890s.

It was here that the family's biennial cattle fair (Mela) was held.
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