Wildlife of
Haryāna

Primary Threats

• Conversion of remnant scrub, grassland-like fallows, and small woodland patches into built-up areas or intensified farming reduces habitat for blackbuck, ground-nesting birds, reptiles, and small mammals. In the Shivalik-Yamuna belt, edge encroachment and fragmentation around Kalesar reduces effective core habitat and movement routes.
• High cropping intensity (including paddy-wheat systems) simplifies the landscape, removes hedgerows and fallows, and increases pesticide/fertilizer loads. This reduces prey and nesting habitat for raptors and farmland birds and increases conflict where wildlife uses crop fields (e.g., nilgai and wild boar).
• Rapid growth around Gurugram-Faridabad-Sonipat-Panipat increases land take, traffic, lighting, and disturbance. Urban expansion also puts chronic pressure on nearby wetlands like Sultanpur through water diversion, sewage inflow risks, and recreational disturbance.
• Sewage and industrial effluents entering drains and rivers (notably the Yamuna system and local drains feeding wetlands) elevate nutrient and contaminant loads, promoting eutrophication and degrading waterbird habitat quality. Agricultural runoff further increases pesticide exposure for aquatic biota and birds.
• Groundwater over-extraction in the Indo-Gangetic plains portion of Haryana lowers water tables and reduces reliable inflows that sustain seasonal wetlands, increasing the frequency of dry-outs during critical wintering periods for migratory birds.
• Canalization, embankments, and water-control structures alter wetland hydroperiods at sites like Bhindawas/Khaparwas and reduce the natural flood-dry cycles that maintain diverse aquatic vegetation and invertebrate communities essential for waterbirds.
• Dense road networks, expressways, rail corridors, and expanding power infrastructure increase mortality risk (vehicle collisions, electrocution), fragment movement corridors (notably in the Aravallis and Kalesar landscape), and increase disturbance near sanctuaries and forest edges.
• High visitor pressure, photography, and noise near flagship bird sites (e.g., Sultanpur) and widespread grazing/wood collection near forest fringes reduce breeding success, push birds away from optimal foraging zones, and increase stress for sensitive species.
• Crop depredation by nilgai and wild boar in agricultural belts and occasional leopard presence near the Shivalik foothills and Aravalli fringes lead to retaliatory actions, demands for culling, and reduced tolerance for wildlife.
• Illegal trade affects high-value, secretive species such as Indian pangolin (sought for scales) and can also impact reptiles and birds; Haryana's proximity to major transport corridors increases the risk of trafficking and rapid movement of contraband.
• Despite legal protection, localized poaching persists for meat or perceived pest control in some rural areas, and opportunistic hunting can affect blackbuck and wetland birds, especially outside protected area boundaries.
• Increasing heatwaves, more erratic monsoon patterns, and drought years intensify wetland drying, reduce waterbird food availability, and exacerbate fire risk in dry scrub/forest patches. Shifts in winter conditions can also alter timing and composition of migratory waterbird assemblages.
• Stone quarrying pressure in the Aravalli belt (including legacy/illegal extraction concerns) degrades ridge and scrub habitats, increases dust, and fragments remaining wildlife refuges along the Haryana-Delhi ridge landscape.
• Congregations of waterbirds in a limited number of wetlands raise the risk of disease outbreaks (e.g., avian influenza events), especially where water quality is poor and birds are concentrated into smaller water areas during dry periods.