Historians suggest that the plains of Bharatpur were contiguous with the jungles of Kanua, the site of the famous battlefield where Emperor Babar defeated Rana Sangha of Mewar. We also know that Babar laid the foundation of the Moghul Empire here on March 16, 1527. That both Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are so close further suggests that the entire area was the virtual centre of the Moghul rule during what historians refer to, as their Golden Age.

Interestingly, the 17th century court painter Mansur painted a fairly accurate depiction of a Siberian Crane, suggesting that the birds visited these wetlands, but that they were nevertheless rare enough for an artist of his repute to single them out for special consideration. According to the late Kailash Sankhala, a renowned forest officer who took charge of Keoladeo Ghana in 1954, the British would shoot birds near the Keoladeo Jheel when Raja Kishen was just two years old. He suggests that it was the influence of the British that led the Maharaja to create a shooting preserve, as under normal circumstances a ruler might have prevented anyone from shooting so close to a temple. But this was what was done in the 19th century and for all the criticism of cruelty and bloodlust that modern-day animal rights activists might hurl, the fact is that without the incentive for duck shooting, this World Heritage Site would never have been created. No less than Lord Curzon himself, together with Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchner, inaugurated the first duck shoot in Keoladeo Ghana when it was officially opened on December 1, 1902. A plaque still standing in the sanctuary reveals that the party of 17 shooters killed 540 birds on that one day. Other entries reveal that a retinue of VIPs came here to shoot duck, including King Edward VIII (when he was the Prince of Wales) and later Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy and Governor General of India (4,273 birds in a day).

After Independence, every high official in government demanded and most often won the right to shoot here. But because the habitat remained vibrant, the birds just kept coming in.

But clearly the bloodlust was taking a toll because the number of birds killed in a day fell by 90 per cent. In 1956 the area was finally declared a bird sanctuary, but shooting stopped only in 1964. However, the Maharaja himself retained personal shooting rights all the way through to 1972, when the Wildlife (Protection) Act made it illegal. Bharatpur was declared a Ramsar site in October 1981. The area was declared a National Park in 1982 and a World Heritage Site in December 1985.

Ironically, ridding the park of all the buffaloes proved problematic. Grass grew unfettered and this reduced the open water expanses, causing a decline in the numbers of duck and other water birds. Some even suggest that this step led to ecological changes that could have caused the Siberian Cranes to abandon the park. The dung from livestock also served to fertilise the wetlands and the Ramsar Monitoring Procedure has now suggested that limited grazing be re-introduced or else the park might suffer runaway weed infestation and loss of wetland. Grazing would additionally keep waterways, now choked with vegetation, open. However, park officials find it difficult to allow only a few graziers in. Alternatively, a combination of steps like removal of weeds, limited bulldozing, burning and building up the population of wetland vegetation-loving ungulates such as wildboar and sambar, should do the trick.

When the water level in the Ajan Bund falls, villagers use the exposed land to grow wheat and gram. Unfortunately they do not farm organically, and therefore there is serious pesticide contamination. The Bombay Natural History Society has studied this impact for decades, but no action has yet been taken to prevent this on-going tragedy from unfolding. Scientists report that chemical pollution from the Ajan Bund may disorient birds. To add to these problems, are the toxic effluents from 120 factories within a five-kilometre radius of the park. Heavy metals from these units have been found in the brain tissues of some birds. The entire food chain is threatened and unless something is done very quickly, this paradise will cease to exist. Birds are bio-indicators of an eco system, which automatically means humans must be in trouble too.

To separate humans and livestock from wildlife a 32 km long, two metre high stone wall has been constructed. But the wall is breached in many places and people still come in to steal firewood, khus grass and even to graze their animals.