Wildlife Sancturies Tours in India
Kaziranga National Park 
Kaziranga National Park in Assam has to be the most beautiful and attractive
place you can choose to visit. A World Heritage Site, Kaziranga's 430 sq kms
of lush green flood plains are home to some of the most fascinating wildlife
in Asia.
I spent a couple of Days in this natural wonderland on the banks of the fast
flowing Brahmaputra river. The weather held out despite the dark clouds and
the birds obliged. All three sectors, Central, Eastern and Western were covered.
Birding was most fruitful in the Eastern section. March is the beginning of
the rainy season in the North-East and the grass is burnt in Kaziranga in late
February. The normally green landscape is strewn with gold and watching wildlife
is a treat if you arrive before the rains.
In a landscape dominated by noisy Red-Breasted Parakeets, what strikes you about
Kaziranga is the large size of the birds and beasts. Kaziranga is all about
Indian Elephants, One-Horned Rhinoceros, Wild Buffaloes, Tigers, Adjutants,
Floricans, Fish Eagles, Pelicans, Hornbills & Storks. The rarity and restricted
range of most of these giants makes a visit even more thrilling and exciting.
I divided my stay between Wild Grass Resort and Behora Tea Garden ( 35 kms from
Kohora). Try and find a way to stay at a tea garden while you are in Assam.
It is an old world experience, the pleasure of which was doubled for me due
to the incomparable hospitality extended by the Dowerahs.
This aim of this section is specifically to cover the birds of this region through
images. I have also added a gallery of animal pictures to present a visual snapshot
of the bio-diversity of the Park.
Inside the National Park: Elephant rides are available between 5.00am and 6.00am
from Kohora. One ride is recommended to get a feel of the place and, if lucky,
to get up close to the Bengal Florican, an endangered rarity.
Various 4 Wheel Drive vehicles are available to tour the 3 ranges. The Eastern
Range at Agaratoli is about 30 kms away from Kohora. Factor in the travel time
plus the fact that this is the longest trip inside the forest before you set
off. The Western range at Baghori is the shortest run but great for rhinos and
buffaloes.
General Information :
Best time to Visit : November-April
Nearest town : Bokakhat (23 km)
How to get there : Air-Jorhat (84 km) Rail-Guwahati.
PANNA NATIONAL PARK 
Situated in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh at a distance of around
57 km from Khajuraho is the Panna National Park. The region, which is famous
for its diamonds, is also home to some of the best wildlife species in India
and is one of the better Tiger Reserves in the country. The park is known worldwide
for its wild cats, including tigers as well as deer and antelope. Due to its
closeness to one of the best-known Indian tourist attraction in India, Khajuraho,
the park has the potential of becoming a major tourist attraction.
The Panna National Park is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and
is a part of the Chattarpur district. The park is well connected with the other
parts of the region by a good network of roads. Distances of some important
places in India from the Panna National Park are Bhopal 727 km, Delhi 889 km,
Chennai 1761, and Calcutta 1040 km.
Legend has it that the Pandavs of Mahabharat spent a good part of their seclusion
here in the forests of the Panna National Park. This was ages away, but even
now the park region attracted every sort of visitors. The park was the private
hunting region of the royal family of Panna. After independence, the park was
declared a wildlife sanctuary. It is in the year 1981 that this park was declared
a National Park and now it attracts the attention of wildlife enthusiasts in
large numbers.
This region has mixed deciduous forests. The landscape of this rocky and uneven
terrain is covered by scrubby vegetation and grass.
Fauna of this park includes, apart from the tiger; wolf, chital, sloth bear,
chinkara, and sambar. Tiger sightings are not very common here and to watch
a wild cat in action needs a lot of patience along with luck. The Ken River
that flows from here towards the north harbours both the major Indian species
of crocodiles i.e. the mugger and long snouted gharial.
Panna is famous for its diamond mining industry and this make it an interesting
place to visit. Pandav falls is also a major attraction with its lake fed by
a waterfall. One more attraction in this region is the Rajgarh Palace, a magnificent
piece of architecture overlooking the valley..
General Information :
Best time to Visit : November to April
Accommodation : All categories of hotels available in Khajuraho
Nearest Town : Khajuraho (27 km)
How to get there : Rail - Jhansi (175 km); Air - Khajuraho
Periyar National Park 
Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve is set high in the ranges of the Western
Ghats in Kerala. The park has a picturesque lake at the heart of the sanctuary.
Formed with the building of a dam in 1895, this reservoir meanders around the
contours of the wooded hills, providing a perennial source of water for the
local wildlife.
Animals found here include elephant, sambar, gaur and wild boars. In March and
April, during the driest period here, the animals spend a lot of time near the
lake and the elephants can be seen bathing and swimming in the reservoir. You
may even get a glimpse of the tiger during this season.
Periyar is also home to leopard, wild dog, barking deer, mouse deer, monitor
lizards and a variety of snakes and birds.
The birds include darter, cormorant, grey heron, ibis, great malabar hornbill
and grey hornbill, kingfishers, ospreys and kites as well as orioles, hill mynas,
racket tailed drongos, parakeets, including the unusual blue winged paraket
and fly catchers.
The animals are viewed from motor launches on the lake and from watch towers.
A summer palace of the former Maharaja of Travancore, set along the lake, is
a hotel and a fine place to stay.
General Information :
Best time to Visit : October to April
Accommodation : Lake palace, Spice Village, Taj Garden Retreat
Nearest Town : Kumily (4 km)
How to get there : Rail-Kottayam (114 km), Air-Cochin (200
km) or Madurai (TN) (140 km)
Ranthambhore National Park 
Ranthambhore, in the state of Rajasthan, is one of the smallest Project Tiger
reserves. It's name comes from the vast fort that stands in the middle of the
forest. The name Ranthambore is derived from two hills in the area, Ran and
Thanbhor. Another version says that Ranthambhore was once called Rana Stambhapura
or City of the Pillars of War!
The Ranthambhore National Park at the junction of the Aravalis and the Vindhayas
is a unique juxtaposition of the natural and historical richness, standing out
conspicuously in the vast, arid and denuded tract of eastern Rajasthan, barely
14 kms. from Sawai Madhopur. The elegant Ranthambhore fort called the Jogi Mahal
is now the forest rest house.
It spreads over a highly undulating topography varying from the gentle to the
steep slopes; from flat topped hills of the Vindhayas to the conical hillocks
and the sharp ridges of the Aravalis. An important geological feature the 'Great
Boundary Fault' where the Vindhaya plateaus meet the Aravali hill ranges, meanders
through the reserve. The National Park is bounded by the rivers Chambal in the
South and the Banas in the North. Pure stands of the Dhok interspersed with
open grasslands of the plateaus, six large lakes - Gilai Sagar, Mansarovar,
Malik talao, Raj Bagh and Padam Talao with in the National Park.
General Information :
Best time to Visit : 1st October to 30th June.
Accommodation : Tiger Den . The Hammir Wildlife Resort
Nearest Town : Sawai Madhopur
How to get there : Rail-Sawai Madhopur (11 km) Air-Jaipur (145
km)
Sunderban National Park 
The Sunderban National Park is home to the Royal Bengal tiger, and is a part
of the world’s largest delta formed by the Ganga and Brahmaputra. It is
also known for its unique mangrove forest ecosystem. The reserve spreads across
2,585 sq km, 0 to 10 m above sea level. It is a tiger and biosphere reserve
and has been designated as world heritage site by UNESCO. It extends about 260
km along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary (India) to the Meghna
River Estuary in Bangladesh. The forest passes into a mangrove swamp along the
coast. The southern region, with numerous wild animals and crocodile-infested
estuaries, is virtually devoid of habitation.
There are a large number of activities that can be undertaken at the Sunderban
National Park, together with observing the wildlife such as the chital, crocodile,
monkeys, estuarine and marine turtle, dolphins and various kinds of birds. For
instance, a cruise through the largest estuarine delta in the world is a thrilling
experience that might even give you a glimpse of the majestic tiger. You could
also come across rich tribal folklore, and woodcutters, honey collectors and
fishermen out in the wild working for their survival.
The word “Sunderban” is derived from sundari and ban, which, when
combined, means “the forests of sundari”-an obvious reference to
the large mangrove trees. Sunderban has a variety of forests such as the mangrove
scrub, littoral forest, salt water mixed forest, brackish water mixed forest,
wet forest, wet alluvial grass forest, etc. the distribution of wildlife and
vegetation is even throughout the Sunderban area.
The tiger reserve in Sunderban is a major tourist attraction. The number of
tigers in this reserve is among the highest in the country. According to a census
conducted in the 1980, the population of tiger here was close to 400. Besides
the tiger, other forms of wildlife also inhabit these mangrove forests. The
Gangetic dolphin, little porpoise, fishing cat, Indian fox, jungle cat, small
Indian civet, common grey mongoose, spotted deer, wild pig, Indian flying fox,
rhesus monkey and pangolin are some of the residents here.
The bird sanctuary at Sajnekhali contains a wide variety of birds. The most
noteworthy among them are spotted billed pelican, cotton teal, herring gull,
Caspian tern, grey heron, large egret, night heron, open-billed stork, white
ibis, common kingfisher, brahmini kite and paradise flycatcher. The area is
also important for waders, including the Asian dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus),
a rare winter migrant.
The birds of prey that reside here include osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Pallas’s
fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster),
grey-headed fishing eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), peregrine falcon (Falco
peregrinus), Oriental hobby (Falco severus), northern eagle owl (Bubo bubo)
and brown fish owl (Ketupa zeylonensis).
Besides crocodiles, Sunderban is also home to sea snakes, dog-faced water snake,
Ridley turtle, curvier, green turtle, hawks bill turtle, rat snake, king cobra,
and python. The prominent water animals include saw fish, butterfish, starfish,
crabs, prawns and shrimps.
The Sunderban National Park also has a wide variety of flora. There is mangrove
scrub, littoral forest, salt water mixed forest, brackish water mixed forest
and swamp forest. The distribution of wildlife and vegetation is even throughout
the Sunderban area.
Due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, the Sunderbans experience very high
humidity. Rainfall is quite heavy during monsoon, which last from mid-June to
mid-September. After the monsoons, fair weather prevails until mid-March. The
best season to visit the Sunderban is between December and February
General Information :
Best time to Visit : October to March.
Nearest Town : Basanti
Rann Of Kutch 
Gujarat is famous for its large herds of wild asses as it is for its lions.
The Little Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary, can be from Dasada, 93 kms from
Ahmedabad and on an important route. It has salt plains, caused by flooding
of the Rann by sea, river and rain water; punctuated by highlands called beyts,
above the monsoon flood mark where scrub flora and grasslands offer a refuge
to wildlife. This is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in India, spanning
some4950sq ft in area, and comprising a range habitats from saline desert plains,
arid grasslands, rocky and thorn scrub to lakes and marshes.
This is the only home for the endangered Asiatic Wild Ass, which is the member
of wild horse family. These animals are tall, chesnut brown and white in colour,
and are exceptionally fast. They does not survive elsewhere in Indian lowlands,
but also supports a thriving population of gazelle, blue bull, wolf, and Indian
foxes, jackal, jungle cat, hare and birds from the houbara bustard, spotted
& Indian sandgrouse, francolin partridge, bustard quails, desert wheatear,
desert , larks, steppe eagle, imperial eagle, short toed eagle, 5 of vulture,
laggar falcon etc to flamingoes, pelicans, ducks,cranes and storks . The 11th
century sandstone of Jhinjwada, historic walled town of Mandal, Rajput at Patdi,
intricate temples around Munsar tank at Viragam and Darbargadh of Dasada can
be visited on the way from to the Rann of Kutch. Indian wild ass, panther, Black
buck, Chinkaras, Blue bull, Jackals, wild boar, Ghudkhur and rare birds Houbara
Bustard, Falcons, Larks are the others who can be seen in this sanctuary.
General Information :
Best time to Visit : November to March
Accommodation : Fatima Manzil and Rann Riders
How to get there : Rail, air and road - Ahmedabad (3 hours)
Wildlife Sancturies Tours in India Reservation Form
Copyright© Tour
Operators of India. All Rights Reserved