4 January 2025

Planning a Mammal-Focused Trip to Northeast India: Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

Hi everyone! 😊

We’re excited to share that we’ll be traveling to the northeastern states of India—Assam and Arunachal Pradesh—from April 26th to May 10th. Our itinerary includes the following stops:

  • Kaziranga National Park (2 days)
  • Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (2.5 days)
  • Pakke Tiger Reserve (3 days)
  • Tawang (2.5 days)
  • Tezpur for dolphin watching (1.5 days)

Our main targets are mammals, especially:

  • Cats (all species we can spot!)
  • Mustelids, with a focus on the yellow-throated marten
  • Viverrids, especially civets and the elusive binturong
  • Bats, particularly flying foxes, but we’d love to see other species too
  • Flying squirrels (they’d be a dream to spot!)
  • If possible, the Himalayan black bear

We’re also happy to see birds and reptiles, though they’re not our primary focus.

We have a few questions and would be super grateful for any advice:

  1. Kaziranga: We’re thinking of focusing on the central area.
    Pakke Tiger Reserve: We’re considering the northern section.
    Given our limited time, are there other zones you’d recommend instead?
  2. We’d like to hire local guides for each park individually, but full tour packages are beyond our budget. Do you have any recommendations for experienced, affordable local guides?
  3. Has anyone processed the entry permit for Arunachal Pradesh in Guwahati, or have you gone through a local company? How was the experience, and how long did it take?

Thank you so much for your help! We’re really looking forward to this adventure, and your tips would mean a lot to us. 🙏

Best wishes,
Alicia

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Post author

AliciaPage
Hi! I’m Alicia, a nature enthusiast of Spain with a deep love for wildlife, especially mammals. I work in environmental consultancy, where I study fascinating creatures like bats and other mammals. Although I’m still a novice traveler, I’m passionate about exploring new places and discovering the amazing biodiversity our planet has to offer. My dream adventures often revolve around spotting mammals in their natural habitats. Through my journey, I hope to connect with like-minded nature lovers, learn more about conservation, and share the wonders of wildlife with others. Glad to be part of this wild community.
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4 Comments

  • 5 January 2025
    Ian Thompson

    Hi Alicia. My partner and I visited those areas in February and March of 2024. I’d be happy to discuss. Perhaps you could e-mail me at ibtson@yahoo.com and we can set up a time for a zoom call? Regards, Ian Thompson

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    • 6 January 2025
      AliciaPage

      Thank you Ian! I really appreciate your comment. I’m currently writing you an e-mail!

      Thanks in advance 🙂

  • 6 January 2025
    mattystouffer

    Hi Alicia,

    My wife and I were just in Assam in November, based primarily at Diphlu River Lodge on the south side of Kaziranga. We did multiple drives in each range, and based on our experience, I would advise against focusing on the Central range. The odds of spotting a Tiger are probably highest in Central, but it is by far the busiest and dustiest part of the Park. When we were there, it was so crowded with other jeeps that the experience bordered on unpleasant. I would suggest instead prioritizing the Eastern range and Burapahar (the far western range), as these areas are seldom visited but are absolutely packed with wildlife. If you plan to base yourselves closer to the center of the Park and want to limit your transit time, we found that the Western range was best for good looks at the Kaziranga ‘Big Five’, as well as Smooth-coated Otter, and we vastly preferred it to Central.

    You are unlikely to need 1.5 days for the River Dolphins. They’re abundant and easily seen (if difficult to photograph) between Tezpur and Silghat. We got on a pair within a half hour of departing the dock at Silghat, approximately here: (26.63064107588362, 92.94589647297393). If you’re exclusively mammalwatching, I’d suggest you devote at most a day to the Brahmaputra (though perhaps more if you’re also going to be birding).

    A few notes on your targets:
    – Cats: with the exception of Tigers, your chance for cats will be highest in the upland areas. Our guides told us that Nameri, just south of Pakke, is quite good for Leopards. We also heard that a Fishing Cat and her cubs are semi-regular nocturnal visitors on the Diphlu River Lodge campus, and that Mainland Leopard Cats are occasionally seen further east at Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
    – Mustelids: apart from the Smooth-coated Otters, we had no mustelids during our time in Assam, but we heard from our guides that Yellow-throated Marten are reasonably common at Pakke and around Eaglenest.
    – Vivverids: we saw none around Kaziranga, but our guides told us that Nameri and the south part of Pakke are the best place in the region to see Binturong.
    – Bats: there are multiple Indian Flying Fox roosts along the north side of the Assam Trunk Road south of Kaziranga, including a large roost just west of the Diphlu River Lodge driveway, approximately here: (26.576489719295182, 93.25352120370164).
    – Squirrels: many seen, though no flying squirrels, which don’t really occur at or around Kaziranga. We had Irrawaddy Squirrels in every range, Pallas’s Squirrel along the Assam Trunk Road and inside the Park at Burapahar, and Black Giant Squirrels at Burapahar.
    – Bears: can’t comment on Himalayan Black Bear, but our guides at Diphlu mentioned they infrequently encounter Sloth Bears in the Eastern and Central ranges at Kaziranga.
    – Primates: your chances for primates around Kaziranga are highest at the west end of the Park. We had Western Hoolock Gibbon along the road opposite the Kanchanjuri tea estate, and a bit further west, we saw a family of Capped Langurs along the jeep path inside the Park at Burapahar. Rhesus Macaques are regular in all three ranges. Assamese Macaques are regular in the woodsy section along the Trunk Road from the entrance to Burapahar east to the Chirang Pahar View Point, roughly here: (26.574411863161775, 93.10013377528117).

    Finally, we did not enter Arunachal, but we did have some permit challenges of our own. To put it simply, after many years of a less restrictive visa regime throughout the Northeast, getting the Inner Line and Restricted Area Permits has recently become more difficult again due to the Modi administration’s concerns about foreigners entering the area. Since much of your trip will depend on getting into Arunachal, I would suggest leaving it to a professional and allowing plenty of time to process the permit. We heard it could take 8 to 12 weeks right now, but that is entirely anecdotal and may not reflect actual processing time if a guide or tour company applies for you.

    Best of luck and hope you have a wonderful trip!

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    • 6 January 2025
      mattystouffer

      I will add that our stay at Diphlu River Lodge was exceptional: not only were the accommodations and food outstanding, but it was also by far our best experience working with guides. This was in large part thanks to our dedicated and extremely knowledgeable staff naturalist, Anuj Deb, who was with us from dawn to dusk (and beyond, on days we went spotlighting outside the Park) through our whole stay. I don’t think Anuj guides outside of the context of Diphlu, but it might be worth reaching out to ask.

      You might also try contacting Peter Lobo at All India Birding Tours (https://allindiabirdingtours.com/our-team-2/). Peter is known among birders to be the top fixer in the Northeast, but he and his team are also quite knowledgeable about mammals and should be able to help arrange guides in each location.

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