Cholistan Desert Cholistan Desert The Cholistan Desert (; Saraki: ), also locally known as Rohi (), sprawls from Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan and covers an area of . It adjoins the Thar Desert, extending over to Sindh and into India. The word Cholistan is derived from the Turkic word "chol", meaning "desert". The people of Cholistan lead a semi-nomadic life, moving from one place to another in search of water and fodder for their animals. The dry bed of the Hakra River runs through the area, along which many settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization have been found. The desert also hosts an
Thar Desert hemionus khur") in the Rann of Kutch. They have evolved excellent survival strategies, their size is smaller than other similar animals living in different conditions, and they are mainly nocturnal. There are certain other factors responsible for the survival of these animals in the desert. Due to the lack of water in this region, transformation of the grasslands into cropland has been very slow. The protection provided to them by a local community, the Bishnois, is also a factor. Other mammals of the Thar Desert include a subspecies of red fox ("Vulpes vulpes pusilla") and the caracal. The region is