Kaziranga National Park
The National Park - a World Heritage Site - covers about 430 sq kms, bordered on the north by the Brahmaputra River and on the south by the Karbi Anglong hills. The largest number of one-horned rhinoceros in the world roams its swamps, grasslands with tall thickets of elephant grass and areas of mixed deciduous and tropical semi-evergreen forest. It is home to a wide variety of other animals and birds, and the open vistas make it relatively easy to see many species of wildlife in a day.The other large game includes wild buffalos, extremely impressive animals with curved horns and a short fuse! Even the tiger population gives them a wide berth! There are wild elephants living in herds, but you may come across a solitary male. The reserve also has a good numbers of wild boars. The prey base is enormous - large herds of swamp and hog deer can be seen grazing in the grasslands. The bird-life is rewarding too - the rare greater adjutant stork, Bengal florican, black-necked stork, lesser adjutant stork, Pallas’s fish eagle, swamp partridge, grey peacock-pheasant, great pied hornbill, green imperial pigeon, babblers and thousands of migratory birds, seasonally attracted to the various water areas of the park from as far away as Siberia.
As far as game spotting goes, Kaziranga never disappoints - as a matter of fact, you may have, in one frame, several deer and wild buffalo with a lone elephant added!
Safaris
Game rides are either atop trained elephants or by jeeps and happen between 7:30-9:30 am and again between 2-4 pm. All jeeps are accompanied by naturalists and an armed forest guard, in case a wild elephant or a rhino decides to charge!Although jeep rides have better chance of spotting wildlife, being atop an elephant, padding silently in the morning mist through the grass-lands is a wondrous experience. Elephant safaris during early morning or late in the evening make it possible for visitors to observe the wild animals from close quaters. The Elephants drivers or mahouts also act as guides, who provide information about the park and wildlife as you move along. these rides happen between 5-6 am & 6-7 pm.
The park is open from 1st November to 30th April, unless due to the rains in any exceptional year the park has to be closed earlier by the management for safety reasons.
