THE WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES
Its wildlife heritage plays a key role among India's many attractions for today's visitor. Its 80 national parks and 441 wildlife reserves (a number established in former private hunting reserves of the British Raj and Indian aristocracy) support an array of over 500 mammal species both large and small, rare and prolific, quite apart from an amazing numbers of colourful birds. Though game in India can sometimes be harder to spot than on a safari in Africa, the landscapes and atmosphere are no less exciting. The most accessible locations can easily be incorporated into a tailor-made tour for you.
In North India major sanctuaries include Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal, Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Parks in Madya Pradesh - and Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park (the latter home to the elusive tiger). These are also the habitat of many deer varieties, a range of lesser cats and mammals and many bird species. Among South India's most popular reserves are Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka and Periyar in Kerala. Their lush forests are home to the occasional tiger and leopard - with elephants and an host of wild boar, pangolin, loris and macaques all to be seen, as well as a rich variety of birds. In West India Gujarat boasts a choice of less-visited names, among them Gir National Park, last habitat of the rare Asiatic lion, and the splendid Keoladeo Ghana National Park, with its exotic birdlife.

BANIPUR NATIONAL PARK

Bandipur National Park is one of India's best known sanctuaries, and is an important Project Tiger reserve. It is located in the Chamarajanagar district of southern Karnataka in South India, and is contiguous with the Mudumalai National Park in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, the Wynad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, and the Nagarhole National Park to the northwest. It is home to around seventy tigers and over three thousand Asian elephants, along with leopards, dholes, gaur and sloth bears

 

  
Dhole (Indian Wild Dog)

RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK

This 150-square mile nation park is part of Indias Project Tiger and is home many animals including marsh crocodiles, hyenas, jungle cats, chital, nilgai, chinkara, sloth bears and of course the tiger. Its terrain varies from dense tropical dry forest, open bushland and rocky terrain interspread with lakes and streams. A good time to visit is November - May when the dry deciduous forests allow the best sightings

  

CORBETT NATIONAL PARK

Corbett National Park is India's oldest national park. Situated in the foothills of the Kumaon Himalayas, the park covers an area of 200 square miles. The park is known for its diverse wildlife and as the site for the launching of Project Tiger

  

KANHA NATIONAL PARK

Kanha National Park, part of Project Tiger, is located in Madhya Pradesh. This national park was created on 1 June 1955 and today it stretches over an area of 300 square miles in the two districts of Mandla and Balaghat. Together with a surrounding buffer zone of 390 square miles and the neighbouring 35 square-mile Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve. It is also home to leopards, sloth bear, indian wild dog, guar, barasingha (a rare deer native to India & Nepal) sambar, swamp deer, rhesus macaque, golden jackal, bengal fox, smooth-coated otter, honey badger, small indian civet, indian gray mongoose, ruddy mongoose, striped hyena, jungle cat, leopard cat, indian pangolin and indian porcupine.

  
Barasingha (a rare deer native to India)

BANDHAVGARH NATIONAL PARK

Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968. It is located in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh with an area of 40 square miles. The density of the tiger population at Bandhavgarh is the highest known in India. In the past it was also home to the white tigers.

  

PERIYAR

This 300-square-mile sanctuary near Thekkady (Kerala's largest and arguably best nature reserve) stands high in the Western Ghats, some 150 miles from Cochin, and is surrounded by rich plantations and dense jungles. It has at its centre the vast and beautiful Lake Periyar, man-made by the British in 1895. Here boats are the ideal way to get around and game-view for sightings of the sanctuary's many elephant, bison, sambar deer, wild boar and nilgiri langur monkeys, as well as a host of colourful birds - and, for the fortunate few, the rare tiger. Stay at the charming Taj Garden Retreat or Shalimar Spice Centre on the edge of the sanctuary, at the atmospheric old Lake Palace on an island or the Aranya Niwas Hotel.

  

NEYYAR

For those who want to see something of Kerala's wildife heritage but prefer not to venture too far from the coast, Neyyar is easily visited from Trivandrum (20 miles) or Kovalam. Set around a large reservoir, Neyyar is known as a crocodile breeding centre and deer park, and is the habitat of elephant, sloth bear and wild boar.

 

ERAVIKULAM

Set amid breathtakingly beautiful mountain scenery on the edge of the border with Tamil Nadu state, this superb national park (visited from nearby Munnar) can easily be combined with a stay at Periyar. Its wildife population includes tiger, panther and wild dog in the open grasslands and shola woods, while the sloth bear, Nilgiri langur and wild boar can also be found in the forests. The Atlas moth - largest of its kind anywhere in the world - can also be seen here.

  

OTHER KERALA SANCTUARIES

Kerala boasts no less than 11 other wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, each with its own ecological and zoological characteristics. We can prepare a variety individual itineraries for those with special interests.