A post about Indian wildlife… This must be about tigers, right?
Not quite.
While the power, beauty and magnificence of a tiger can’t be disputed, Indian wildlife has so much more to offer than just tiger sightings.
Wild elephants, buffaloes, an array of wild cats, deer, sloth bears, jackals, and hyenas can all be found in India. There are even Asiatic lions in the state of Gujarat. The rich vastness of India’s wildlife can constitute a fantastic trip, with or without the tigers. These are the top 5 national parks to go to in India for the best general game viewing.
1. Kaziranga National Park
When it comes to game viewing in India, Kaziranga is your best option. A world heritage site, the park has about 86 tigers and boasts the highest density of tigers in the world (one every five square km). Visitors, however, seldom see tigers due to the tall grass that provides excellent camouflage. The rhinoceros is the real star of the park, with Kaziranga holding over 2,000 Great One-horned Rhinoceros which makes up two-thirds of the world’s population.
Kaziranga also has one of the last populations of truly wild Asian water buffalo. The park is home to large herds of elephant and swamp deer as well as over 400 species of birds. Kaziranga also boasts the only ape to be found in India, the Hollock Gibbon.
Wildlife: Great One-horned Rhinoceros, tiger, Asian elephant, Asian water buffalo, swamp deer, leopard, sloth bear, pangolin
2. Satpura National Park
Satpura is a Sanskrit word which means seven mountains. Amongst these seven mountains lie significant stretches of forest. These forest enclaves provide habitat to several at-risk and endangered species. Given the name, it will come as no surprise that the terrain of the national park is is extremely rugged and consists of fascinating deep valleys, sandstone peaks, narrow gorges, rivulets, waterfalls, thick dense green forest of Sal and other medicinal herbs, it also has large tracts of Teak forests.
Wildlife: spotted deer, gaur, tiger, leopard, wild boar, wild dog, sloth bear, porcupine, otter, crocodile and langur.
3. Kanha National Park
As the setting for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, Kanha is perhaps India’s most famous national park. Kanha is extremely popular largely due to the relative abundance of tigers, but the jungle holds more than just Shere Khan.
The sal forests and vast meadows support huge populations of deer and antelope, including the rare barasingha deer. Among the deer species, swamp deer is a proud feature of the fauna as it is the only subspecies of swamp deer in India. The animal is adapted to the hard ground unlike swamp deer of the north which live in marshy swamps.
Wildlife: leopard, sloth bear, Indian wild dog, wild cat, fox, tiger, swamp deer, jackal, hyena, langur, wild boar.
4. Pench National Park
Pench is a spectacular reserve set among a teak jungle and offers a secluded game viewing experience. Taking its name from the meandering Pench River which intersects the park, the reserve sprawls over a breathtaking landscape of hills, forests and valleys. The gentle, undulating scenery of the Satpura Hills creates an unforgettable backdrop to the wildlife viewing.
Flat hilltops known as dadars appear among grassy expanses and riverine forests. Apart from the Pench River, a number of jungle streams provide an ample water source for wildlife. Swaying bamboo lines the banks of the watercourses and the bottoms of the valleys.
Wildlife: chital, sambar, nilgai, wild pig, jackal, leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, porcupine, monkey, jungle cat, fox, striped hyena, gaur, four-horned antelope, barking deer, tiger.
5. Jim Corbett National Park
Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. Nestled in the foothills of Himalayas and Shivalik ranges, the park contains 488 different species of plants, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species and 25 reptile species.
Spanning over 520 square km, its whole area comprises of hills, marshy depressions, riverine belts, grasslands and a large lake. It is among the few tiger reserves in India that allows overnight stays in the lap of the National Park. In recent years, the number of people coming here has increased dramatically. Presently, every season more than 70,000 visitors come to the park.
Wildlife: leopard, tiger, barking deer, sambar deer, hog deer, sloth bear, Himalayan black bear, Indian grey mongoose, otters, pangolin, langur, Rhesus macaques, Asian elephant.