“So, you had been to Bikaner”
“Yes”
“Did you go to havelis, forts in Bikaner?”
“No”
“What did you do then?”
“Went to Jorbeer cattle carcass dumping yard!!”
“What? You went all the way from Bengaluru to see dumping yard?”
“Yes!!”
The person on the other side got terribly confused after this conversation. But I was there with Sankara for the whole day in Jorbeer carcass dumping site!! So, whats so interesting in Jorbeer?
The raptors like Egyptian vulture, Steppe eagle and eastern imperial eagle are endangered species. It is hard to find them. The usage of diclofenac (Anti inflammatory drug) has lead to the dramatic decline of some of the scavenger birds. Vultures that eat the carcass of animals treated with diclofenac, it causes kidney failure. We have lost nearly 99.9% of vultures because of this. Sankara and me once went to Ramanagara near Bengaluru which has a small area declared as vulture sanctuary. We could not find any bird but got some scolding and “gyaan” by forest department people lazing around!!
Jorbeer near Bikaner has a huge dumping yard of cattle and camel carcass making it an ideal place for scavenger birds. When we planned trip to Tal Chhapar, a day trip to Jorbeer was also included.
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| Jorbeer dumping yard |
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| Egyptian vulture and Steppe eagle |
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| Egyptian Vulture |
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| Steppe eagle |
Our experience
We had started very early from Tal Chhapar. The journey was slow due to fog and bad roads at certain places. It was also surprising to see NHAI collecting tolls on two lane highway!! Anyway, we were at the entrance of Jorbeer at around 10AM and the mist was clearing up. A small checklist with a friendly guard registers the vehicle before letting inside.
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| Eastern imperial Eagle |
As we drove into the area, we were overwhelmed by the number of Egyptian vultures. They were in hundreds!! Steppe eagles were also found in plenty.
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| Griffon vulture |
This is not a place for weak hearted. Though the area is large, it is hard not to miss the dumping place. The dead cattle and camels are brought in lorries and dumped here. People skin the animals while the dogs, vultures and eagles feast on them. It is a weird place place but that is an experience!!
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| Dumping yard of Jorbeer |
We spent about 5-6 hours at Jorbeer with a break for lunch at Bikaner. Apart from raptors, you can also see birds like starlings, Francolin and yellow eyed pigeons. It is also common to find Nilgai and chinkara in the area surrounding dumping yard.
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| Grey Francolin |
Where is Jorbeer?
Jorbeer is about 15 km from Bikaner. Bikaner is a big city well connected to Jaipur and Delhi by trains. I feel it is very convenient to reach by overnight train from Delhi. A visit to Jorbeer is only recommended if you are interested in birds. Else, there is no fun to see the dumping yard!!
ARVE
Clean and crisp. It is a paradise for birds of prey.
Sapna
Oh….. I didn't knew about this place. Thanks for sharing.
R Niranjan Das
Nice to know about this dump yard in Bikaner. Lovely captures.
aravindgj
Ramanan, Sapna, Niranjan,
Thanks.
Santosh bs
I had been to here last December and have tons of graphic content… looks like an organized mess for the birds 🙂
aravindgj
Santosh,
🙂
Anil Goyal
Here I totally agree
Unknown
Very nice place for birds but plz note that dogs are Inc in large number and they are having many desiese, plz don't go close to dogs they are wild and not like pet.
The dogs Inc number is also not good for birds