India time allocation: Gir vs Little Rann of Kutch vs Desert NP and Velavadar ??
I am in the midst of finalizing a trip to India in December-January of this year. My goal is mammal photography – specifically: Asiatic wildcat, Bengal fox (aka Indian fox), desert fox (aka white footed fox), Indian jackal, which I have not seen before, and get better photos of jungle cat, striped hyena, Indian wolf. I like pretty much all wildlife, but those are the most important ones to me at the moment.
Velavadar (Blackbuck) National Park is on the list. So is Desert National Park. They both sound great.
Gir is sort of on the list for the Asiatic lion, but since it is only a subspecies of the African lion, I am wondering if it is worth the time to visit just for that. It does not seem to be viewed as a hotspot for seeing anything else. Perhaps I am jaded but I have been to Africa a dozen times and have lots of lion photos. I wonder if I would be better off spending more time at Velavadar or Desert NP.
Little Rann of Kutch is also up for grabs. I like the idea of the wild ass sanctuary, and seeing them – they are legit rare mammals – but they aren’t my top priority. I have had people tell me that the birding is very good but I have also had people tell me that for mammals, not so much. Ditto for Great Rann of Kutch. They sure have great names, however.
So I am basically wondering about whether it is worth spending a bit more time on a smaller set of parks – in part because logistics means you lose time in transit, and I don’t have unlimited time.
Any opinions on this are welcome. As are suggestions for other places, particularly in northwest India. In the past, I have collectively spent a total elapsed time of a couple months in past trips visiting most of the wildlife parks in central India, including Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Pench, Ranthambore, Satpura, Tadoba,, and have also been to Kazirangara and other places in Assam. So I don’t need to revisit those on this trip.
Nathan
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Jean Dille
Hello Nathan,
I visited Gujarat in 2018.
If you are not particularly interested in viewing Asiatic lions, you could easily skip Gir. The vegetation was rather thick but I saw several lions because people were pulling them down near the roads. I did not see some of your main targets there but probably they are around.
On the other hand, I strongly recommend Velavadar and Little Rann of Kutch, not so far from each other.
In Velavadar, I had great views of Indian wolf, jungle cat (hunting) and striped hyena. In Little Rann of kutch, apart from the wild asses, I had extended close view of a mother Bengal fox with cubs around their den and also of a striped hyena.
If you go to Velavadar and then to Little Rann of Kutch, you could continue north to Desert NP.
Jean