Audley seminar: Wildlife of the Indian Subcontinent

Tiger in Ranthambhore National Park

Today I went to the Audley seminar on ‘Wildlife of the Indian Subcontinent’. I must confess I have a big vested interest here as I was lucky enough to get to travel to India with Audley last May and one of the highlights of my trip was visiting Ranthambhore where my sister and I were really fortunate in seeing 8 tigers! Incredible and everyone kept on telling us we had been very lucky! We also saw lots of other amazing wildlife. I also work on the Indian Subcontinent on the website so am always interested in finding out more about this fascinating area of the world.

Visit our Audley Seminar Programme for more information on seminars coming up or call us on 01993 838 000 to find out more.

Obviously the Indian Subcontinent is best known for tigers and if you are lucky enough to see one on your trip it will be a definite highlight but it can never be guaranteed, although as the saying goes ‘You may not see a tiger but a tiger will always see you!’ There is a multitude of other wildlife in the Subcontinent including leopard, Asiatic lion, rhino, wild ass, elephant, deer, wild dog, birds, marine life and more. You can see wildlife on a game drive from a jeep, on an elephant back safari and from a boat.

Mother lion and her 3 month old cubs at Gir

There are many parks in the Indian Subcontinent, with each park best for some types of wildlife and at certain times of the year. Look at our Indian Subcontinent Wildlife Interactive Map to help you choose which park you’d like to go to and at what time of the year, as well as discovering the different accommodation options.

We heard about a typical day on safari, when you are woken early with tea and biscuits at about 5.30am before your game drive, when you have breakfast out in the park. Having experienced this I can say that there’s nothing quite like stopping for breakfast at the top of a ridge overlooking the park, in my case in Ranthambhore, after a few hours of wildlife spotting! After your game drive you return to your lodge for lunch and a few hours of relaxation followed by your afternoon game drive before returning to your lodge for drinks and then dinner. 

We heard more details about the main parks, including Kaziranga which is renowned for its rhino, as well as swamp deer and wild elephants and can also be easily combined with a relaxing cruise on the Brahmaputra river.

Rhino in the grass

Ranthambhore is one of the most famous parks and has a beautiful fort and a perfect fusion of nature, history and wildlife, with the tiger at the top of most people’s list! It combines really well as part of a Rajasthan trip. (I did this with visits to Agra, Delhi and Jaipur).    

Central India has some wonderful parks, with Bandhavgarh, which is one of the best parks in this area for tiger sightings, as well as Kanha, which was the setting for the Jungle Book and Pench which is less busy and great for birds.

Gir is the home of the Asiatic lion, while the endangered wild ass are only found at the Little Rann of Kutch.

Nagarhole in Southern India has wonderful scenery and fits in well with a Southern India itinerary and offers some wonderful boat safaris.

Outside India, the other countries in the Subcontinent also offer wonderful wildlife opportunities from the black necked cranes in Bhutan, to the onehorned rhino in Nepal’s southern National Parks, elephant and leopard in Sri Lanka and prolific marine life in the Maldives and Andaman islands. 

India is a wonderfully diverse and varied country and a wildlife trip combines well with discovering India’s fascinating culture, as well as the wildlife and culture of the Indian Subcontinent as a whole.

To find out more about a trip to see the wildlife of the Indian Subcontinent please contact one of our dedicated Indian Subcontinent Wildlife specialists on 01993 838 350, visit our website or contact us online.