On the southern banks of the mighty Brahmaputra River lies Kaziranga, one of India’s most beautiful and ecologically important reserves. It is one of the few places in India where one can spot Tigers, Rhinos and herds of Elephants in one place.
Kaziranga’s rich diversity of creatures includes the endangered Wild Buffalo, Swamp Deer (Barasingha), Hog-deer, Barking deer, capped langur and Asia’s only ape – the hoolock gibbon, which lives in the canopies of the higher bordering forests of Karbi Anglong. This is also rare Bengal Florican territory.
Kaziranga constitutes 430 km2 of shallow swamp, sandy riverine islands and tall elephant grass with dense forest of moist tropical trees over a flat and broad plain. The Brahmaputra river floods this plain ever year which is key to the reserve’s semi aquatic existence.
Kaziranga is a birder’s paradise. Regular sightings include the Oriental honey buzzard, black-shouldered kite, Indian vulture, slender-billed vulture and Indian white-rumped vulture. A large number of migratory birds descend on the lakes and marshlands during the winter including greylag geese, ruddy shelduck, falcated duck and the Northern shoveller. Other threatened species that have been seen here are the black-breasted parrotbill and the rufousvented prinia.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site
Kaziranga today hosts two-thirds of the world’s greater one-horned rhinoceros, nearly 2500 – a remarkable feat considering the area was once the hunting preserve of the local rajas whose mindless slaughter almost wiped out the species, with only 12 rhinos left in 1903.
While the area was offered protection in 1926 and eventually became a national park in 1974 but serious threat from poachers remained until forest rangers adopted a no-nonsense paramilitary style patrolling against poaching.
The protection afforded to Rhinos also ensured that this is now one of India densest Tiger habitats with recent estimations of over 80 individuals.
Make sure you have enough time to visit each zone, as each zone has a very different feel to it. The park offers morning and afternoon safaris, and visiting the same zone at different times will reveal a totally different atmosphere and animal activity.
One may forget one’s first kiss, but no one ever forgets their first tiger. Kaziranga, Western Zone, afternoon safari, 2001. She was gracefully walking away, then stopped for the briefest moment, slowly turned around to look straight into my eyes. She was gone a moment later, but the love affair continues…
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Opulent: Exceptional, unashamedly the best of sheer luxury. (£££££)
Luxury: Outstanding levels of 5* comfort, hospitality and facilities. (££££)
Premium: Excellent levels of comfort and hospitality and a wide range of facilities. (£££)
Mid-Range: Good levels of comfort and hospitality, with a reasonable range of facilities. (££)
Simple: Clean and simple, no frills. Often in areas of natural beauty or near wildlife reserves. (£)
