The Wild Ass Sanctuary in Little Rann of Kutch has been selected by Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihood Improvement project. The project will be funded by World Bank and Global Environment Fund (GEF). Officials said accordingly, a project for six years has been prepared and submitted to the Centre. This project would help conserve wild ass in the state, which are found in the 7,000-sq km area declared a sanctuary. Officials said that this project would not only protect the wild ass but also help increase the local species of the area. Under this programme, it will be taken care to see that the proposed Narmada canal to pass through this parched district would be subterranean in the area of the sanctuary, and at many places the water would be carried through pipelines. Officials say the excavation would certainly harm the sanctuary but being a desert, it would be normal soon. The vegetation here consists of grasses and dry thorny scrub such as Apluda aristata, Cenchrus, Pennisetum, Cymbopogon, Eragrostis. There are hardly any large trees except in the beyts, where the exotic Prosopis juliflora has begun to invade. Seedpods from the Prosopis provide yearround food for the wild asses. In the Little Rann the vegetation is classified into Salvadora scrub and tropical Euphorbia scrub. Officials said that under this project the invasion of Prosopis juliflora would also be checked. The primary threats to this habitat are from cattle grazing within the protected areas, vehicular traffic that damages the fragile ecosystem, and cutting of trees to make charcoal. The region has mammal species of conservation importance, including the Asiatic wild ass, chinkara (Gazella bennettii), Blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus), wolf (Canis lupus), blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), striped hyena (Hyaena), desert cat (Felis silverstris), and caracal (Felis caracal). Caracal was recently spotted in the region after a long time.