Why in news?  The Rajasthan state Forest Department has proposed to construct a zoo inside Keoladeo National Park, a World Heritage Site popularly known as Bharatpur bird sanctuary.

Highlights

• It is mainly to display a range of wetland species, including rhinos, water buffaloes, crocs, dolphins and exotic species.
• The purpose of this zoo, called Wetland ex-situ Conservation Establishment (WESCE), to rejuvenate the bio-diversity of Keoladeo National Park, thereby boosting its outstanding universal values.

The facilities include:

• Breeding and re-introduction centre for locally extinct species, such as otters, fishing cats, blackbucks, hog deer, etc.
• An aquarium for indigenous species like Gangetic Dolphin, crocodiles
• Enclosures for the display of large wetland species like Indian Rhino, Water Buffalo, Barasingha (swamp deer)
• An aviary, a reptile house and a veterinary care facility

About Keoladeo National Park

• It was formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary is a famous avifauna sanctuary and world Heritage Site in Rajasthan.
• This park is a man-made and man-managed wetland.
• Principal vegetation types are tropical dry deciduous forests intermixed with dry grasslands.
• The reserve is locally known as Ghana, and is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps and wetlands.
• The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga.
• The wetland is a part of the Indo-Gangetic Great Plains.