The Lal Sohanran National Park, Bahawalpur

In March 2002 I had managed to visit Pakistan again, visiting many different areas. The third National Park I had managed to visit was the Lal Sohanran NP or sometimes spelt Lal Suhanran in Bahawalpur. It was some 40km away from the actual town. I managed to arrive in Bahawalpur in the late afternoon. I came with a British Internet friend I had made known as Alan Cox, aged about 60 and who spent the last seven years teaching English in Multan and his assistant Tariq. The bus was cramped and full of almost gypsy like people who were heading to Bahawalnagar. Halfway down was our stop and then we hired a rickshaw to take us further into the countryside. The National Park starts with a childrens park an enclose full of wild animals, which are more or less native or were native to the area - Chinkara, BlackBuck, Hog Deer, Nilgai, Rhino and the Indian Peafowl. Rhino and Blackbuck are now extinct within the wild in Pakistan but plans are to reintroduce both back into the wild. Blackbuck became extinct within the 1960's but some were gifted to American ranchowners, who happily gifted some back and breeding herds were slowly established. There are now over 400 Blackbuck in the Lal Sohanran enclosure but that threat of drought and hunting would surely eliminate them again. Rumours of a Top Pakistani politician hunting the rare, endangered and beautiful Blackbuck within the safety enclosures spread. The male is a striking dark chocolate brown with a white underbelly and long spiralling horns. There are also captive breeding programmes for Nilgai, Hog Deer and Chinkara but the main focus is the Blackbuck.
The lal Sohanran National Park consists of a man made irrigated forest plantation, the cholistan desert and a man man water reservoir which attracts thousands of wildfowl in winter. One can hire a ricksaw or even a car and drive the 17km journey from the entrance of the park to the end of the park. One can visit and gain entrance to the Blackbuck enclosure, the Lion safari and the guest houses. The area is superb for bird watching and as you drive to the Lion Safari on the right hand you can see the Bahawalpur Canal - watch out for the turtles and waterfowl on the canal. The Lion Safari is an ecnlosed area of forest with two male lions and two female. Ideally the Lions should be the rare and endangered Asiatic Lion but it seems that they are African Lions. I had thought maybe they planned to introduce the Lions into this area as they were recorded over 200 years ago. The prey base is too small to sustain a viable number of Lions. We also spotted about 4 Nilgai in the forest - they were probably kept there to make sure the Lions did not forget how to hunt. I took a walk in the forest and did manage to see wild Nilgai roaming freely. There were plenty of Tawny Eagles too.
The guesthouses are in quite good condition and contain alot of information on Bahawalpur, which once was a princely state led by the Abbasi Family. Bahawalpur is cleaner and greener than Multan, with wide spacious roads and the people look smarter and less poverty stricken. The National Park serves as a great day out or even a weekend holiday. I have managed to visit it two times in 2002 and 2004. I am sure if I am in the area again I will visit without hesitation.