Why in news?
- Recently Sambhar lake witnessed deaths of many birds due to avian botulism.
About Sambhar lake:
- Also known as Shakambari Jheel, is India’s largest inland Salt Lake, which is bowl shaped.
- It is not part of the Ganga river basin area and is geographically a separate landlocked river basin.
- It is surrounded on all sides by the Aravalli hills.
- It is a Ramsar site because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia.
- The specialized algae and bacteria growing in the lake provide striking water colors and support the lake ecology that, in turn, sustains the migrating waterfowl.
- The other wildlife in the nearby forests includes Nilgai move freely along with deer and foxes.
