Mehrano Private Wildlife Refuge
Sights/Landmarks
Mehrano is a sanctuary built in 1790 by Mir Sohrab Khan Talpur, the founder of Talpur Kingdom. It is preserved by the Mirs of Khairpur as a wildlife reserve and is home to nearly 2,000 animals, such as the blackbuck, hog deer, wild boar, and resident and migratory birds from Siberia. A small room is reserved for tourists to see the ferocious black boars, which are called upon in a unique way by the caretaker, who wears an orange Russian cap. The reserve shares its boundary with the Cholistan desert and is very scenic with green pastures on one side and sandy desert on the other.
Alarmed at the rate at which wildlife was disappearing from his lands, Mir Ali Murad Khan initiated a detailed management plan
for the one square mile or 640 acres of the “Mehrano Private Wildlife Refuge”. From 1971 onwards he personally conducted wild flora plantation work to optimize the food and breeding cover within Mehrano forest. The Refuge comprises a forest, agriculture land, lakes and desert habitat. The hunting free area is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna which have found survival outside the confinement of Mehrano. There is a fortified part with hundreds of hog deer and black bucks roaming freely. A priceless sight in this part of Sindh where both species were widely hunted!
The approach to Mehrano is through the agricultural lands owned by the Mir. Several jeep routes take one into the heart of the wildlife forest, where there is a small, multi-storied hunting lodge. A narrow staircase takes one up to the roof where one gets a birds-eye view of the thick acacia forest canopy and the desert just beyond. Deep inside the forest, there are a number of especially constructed hides for viewing the main species – Black Buck, Hog Deer, Wild Boar, and resident and migratory birds that come from as far as Siberia.
Coordinates: 27.279282, 68.675129
For more details: Mehrano- A Forest Fit for a Prince
Alarmed at the rate at which wildlife was disappearing from his lands, Mir Ali Murad Khan initiated a detailed management plan
for the one square mile or 640 acres of the “Mehrano Private Wildlife Refuge”. From 1971 onwards he personally conducted wild flora plantation work to optimize the food and breeding cover within Mehrano forest. The Refuge comprises a forest, agriculture land, lakes and desert habitat. The hunting free area is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna which have found survival outside the confinement of Mehrano. There is a fortified part with hundreds of hog deer and black bucks roaming freely. A priceless sight in this part of Sindh where both species were widely hunted!
The approach to Mehrano is through the agricultural lands owned by the Mir. Several jeep routes take one into the heart of the wildlife forest, where there is a small, multi-storied hunting lodge. A narrow staircase takes one up to the roof where one gets a birds-eye view of the thick acacia forest canopy and the desert just beyond. Deep inside the forest, there are a number of especially constructed hides for viewing the main species – Black Buck, Hog Deer, Wild Boar, and resident and migratory birds that come from as far as Siberia.
Coordinates: 27.279282, 68.675129
For more details: Mehrano- A Forest Fit for a Prince
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