The Best Wild Animal Sanctuaries in India

Unbelievable India: A Place for huge biodiversity

India is home to a vast selection of fauna and flora. The country has a remarkably vast number of plant and animal species spread out in the regions with diverse landscape. From the large but peaceful Asiatic elephants to the fearsome Bengal tiger, these species are found in the nation’s 400 wildlife sanctuaries, 18 bio-reserves, and 89 national parks.

The Indo Burma region, the Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas are some of the most bio diverse regions in the world.  The Indian landmass supports several large mammals such as the Bengal tiger, Indochinese tigers and Indian rhinoceros Asian elephant, the Indian sloth bear and Indian leopard. Some other popular wild animals are the domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo, gaur and Gail. The dhole, golden jackal, and Indian wolf are also found in this region. Let’s take a look into some of them.

Jim Corbett National Park

Opened in 1936,Jim Corbett national park is the first national park opened in India that was converted to a tiger reserve in the late 1970s. It is now home to the royal Bengal tiger conservation project. The park is popular among Eco-tourists and is also one of the best wild animal sanctuary in India.

The name of this place was given after the famous hunter Jim Corbett shot a leopard which was mentioned in the famous book ‘The man Eater of Rudraprayag’. This place is a hotspot for the international tourists too. You might be a lucky one if you get a glimpse of any big cats setting out for its predatory hunt.

Sunderbans National Park

The sunder bans national park located in eastern India covers 54 islands across India and the Republic of Bangladesh. This park was designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO and currently holds the country's largest number of tigers.The Sundarbans national park is also a biosphere and tiger reserve.

This area crossed by numerous rivers and covered by dense mangrove vegetation. However, you can also plan a boat ride and the trip costs are really reasonable. The packages for a boat ride in Sunderbans includes meal for one day + breakfast, depending upon the package selection that you do. Definitely it is going to be an amazing experience for you when you see the dense forest nearby while moving through the tributaries pretty close to Bay of Bengal.

Sunderbans is famous for reptiles too. Ever heard about famous Bengal’s Ghariyal? You will find one here, so don’t wait for the next season. Use this time of February and pack your trip to Sunderbans.

Gir National Park

Located in Gujarat, the Gir National Park (also known as Sansan Gir) is a noted wild animal sanctuary and forest reserve near Talala Gir provides refuge to over 200 leopards and 300 Asiatic lions. Apart from preserving those endangered Asiatic lion, it is also a home to 37 reptile species, 2000 insect species, and 300 bird species. This region is considered to be the most important areas in Asia because of the species it sustains. October June is the best time to visit this place, as there are maximum chances for you to see the majestic beasts strolling.

Besides these, India is also home to several critically endangered species such as the striped hyena and Himalayan wolf. Unfortunately, climate change and human interference through activities such as deforestation and poaching have caused the extinction of several species of wild animals. Now the one-horned rhinoceros is also a rare animal to found.

Recently the authority of Kaziranga National Park has taken the initiatives for conserve the rhinos which are left. Desperate decrease in the population of the rhinos were also a serious problem that the authorities were facing. Right after that the government of Assam took the decision to start strict patrolling at night, particularly within the core areas of the forest and take the control on poaching. Now this has become a wild animal sanctuary too which throngs lot of tourist every year. They include foreign visitors too.