By Elissa Poma, Deputy Director of Marketing and Communication for World Wildlife Fund
India is known, of course, for its tigers, and no visit to natural areas of the vast Asian nation is complete without time spent in tall grasses searching for the majestic big cat. Dozens of other wildlife species also abound in India’s top national parks.
Which animals are you most likely to see on an India wildlife safari?
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Sloth Bear
Don’t let their ambling, feet-slapping gait fool you: sloth bears are capable of lopsidedly galloping faster than a human can run, and they are masters at tree climbing. The sloth bear is a masterful hunter of termites and ants, pillaging an anthill with puffs, grunts and a Hoover vacuum–like force.
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One-horned Rhinoceros
Kaziranga National Park in Assam was created in 1926 as a refuge for the one-horned rhino. Once hunted nearly to extinction, today this 2-ton beast is a conservation success story, rebounding to more than 1,600 individuals.
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Guar
The world’s largest species of wild cattle is the guar—also called Indian bison—and is among the largest living land mammals. Males often weigh 2,200 to 3,300 pounds. Only hippos, elephants and rhinos are larger.
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Kingfisher
A number of species of the brightly colored bird with a cartoonishly oversized head and sharp beak are considered threatened or near threatened as a result of human activities, including deforestation. Seeing the shy bird with unusual behavior patterns in the wild, therefore, takes on special significance for the birding enthusiast.
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Common Langur
Nearly 2 ½ feet tall, with gray hair and a black face, this “Old World monkey” species is often seen wandering through open, wooded habitat and urban settings. Common langurs sleep in trees but spend much of their waking time on the ground, usually in medium- to large-sized groups led by an alpha male.
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Barasingha
The endangered swamp deer is seen in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, which is home to the world’s last population of the spotted mammal. It strikingly possesses up to 14 points on its antlers, making it an attractive species to hunt or poach. However, an increase in farmland replacing its habitat of tall grasses is probably the main reason for its decreasing population.
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Wild Dog
Packs of them roam throughout Kanha and other natural areas. A few years ago a group of our travelers watched wide-eyed as a pack of 19 dogs chased an adolescent spotted deer across dry grasslands. The deer ran out of sight, leaving the travelers wondering about his fate.
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Sambar
Inhabiting much of southern Asia, the dark brown–colored deer wanders across Indian grasslands and through deciduous forests, feeding mainly on coarse vegetation, grass and herbs. It’s also a favored prey of tigers and crocodiles.
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Bengal Monitor
Not as fearsome as their counterparts on Indonesia’s Komodo Island, India’s monitor lizards are solitary and shy and tend to avoid contact with humans. They can grow to nearly 6 feet long.
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Rhesus Macaque
Though notorious as urban pests throughout India, rhesus macaques exhibit more fascinating behavior when studied in their natural habitat. Troops of them can contain up to 180 individuals.
I’ve been on a trip to India many years ago, but we did not focus in on the wildlife. Guess I’ll have to start saving my pennies to get back to this fascinating country. Thanks for these pictures and info. Sandy Corby
Hi Elissa,
Just a brief note of thanks on your spectacular photography of our wildlife animals. I am a huge petitioner for saving our wildlife due to deforestation and abuse. I have friends in India and hope sometime before the year is over I will be able to see what you photographed in plain sight. Thank you for all your hard conservation work and thank you for sharing your photo.
All the best and much more than that,
~Lauren Stone