For all one’s inclination to believe that Rajasthan is a desert, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the region, in fact, has a varied topography, and includes from semi-arid, desert-like conditions to among the oldest mountains in the world, and lush, water-filled valleys. No wonder too that its wildlife is so rich in variety, including from the tiger and leopard to endless varieties of deer, rhesus monkeys, reptiles including the python, and a profusion of bird-life that includes water-birds.

The Thar Desert, also referred to as the Great Indian Desert, falls for most part within the state, though parts of it do stretch into other states such as Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana, and this is what gives Rajasthan its unique topographical character. Unlike the typical desert, it does not have oasis, palms or cacti, and is densely populated. Sand dunes characterize it, just as much as saline depressions and lakes.

DESERT NATIOAL PARK (Jaisalmer)

The vast tracts of desert sands around Jaisalmer, with their wood fossils, have been designated the Desert National Park. To the layperson, there may be little about the desert that calls for protection, leave alone support wildlife, but the desert has a fragile eco-system that has a unique variety of wildlife species. These include the somewhat ungainly great Indian bustard, which because of these efforts has made a comeback in recent decades, though it is still on the endangered list.

Since the sandy desert has only a few grasses and shrubs, and a low scattering of indigenous trees, the leaf cover is limited. This environment supports the spiny-tail lizard that lives in underground colonies, desert monitors that look like miniature replicas of dragons, sandfish that ‘swim’ under the sand, chameleons, and of course, snakes that include the deadly saw scaled viper and Sind krait. Other faunal species here include the desert hare, hedgehog, the predatory Indian wolf, desert fox, and desert gerbil.

Other avifaunal species include a variety of sand grouse, gray partridge, quails, peafowl and some insect eating birds such as bee-eaters, shrikes, orioles, drongos, warblers and babblers wherever khair bushes can be found.

The Desert National Park, unlike most parks, unlike most preserves throughout the world, does not overwhelm with a profusion of either vegetation or wildlife, but it is precisely because of this that its preservation has ensured that a vital link in the eco-system has not been destroyed. Visitors to the park will need patience and perseverance to establish the sighting of wildlife, and though they may miss the ‘glamour’ of tiger sightings, a view of the long-legged bustard cresting a sand-dune is every bit as rewarding.

KEOLADEO GHANA NATIONAL PARK (Bharatpur)

One of the finest bird parks in the world, Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a reserve that offers protection to faunal species as well, though there is no doubt that this is primarily a bird sanctuary. Once a shooting preserve of the royal family of Bharatpur, the marshy swamplands were created by a maharaja who diverted water from irrigation canals to flood the low depression, creating a permanent home for waterfowl. Today, 120 species of bird’s nest at Keoladeo, and the heronry is believed to be the best in the world. Several more species are migratory visitors, journeying to the park in the winters from distances as far as Siberia.

The most famous of these winter migrants is the greatly endangered Siberian crane though its numbers have reduced drastically from a few hundreds a few decades ago to barely a few birds now.

But it isn’t just birds that the park is noted for, though its mammalian and reptilian species expectedly get short shrift. These include wild boar and deer (chital, black-buck, nilgai), mongoose, otters, jack-als, fox, hyena, hare, porcupine, the rock python, and three feline species – leopard, jungle cat, and fishing cat.

RANTHAMBHOR NATIONAL PARK (Sawai Madhopur)

If there is a part that can almost guarantee tiger sightings, it must be Ranthambhor, its landscape dominated by Vindhyan hill range with its steep escarpments. The ancient sedimentary limestone and sandstone rock’s perennial lakes, and dry deciduous vegetation are part of its indicative topography. Ranthambhor’s great fort, in the background, is a royal presence, but abandoned for centuries, the only majesty here is the tiger’s presence. Once a hunting preserve for the maharajas of Jaipur, and now a Project tiger reserve, the park has also shown that tigers has also shown that tigers can live and breed in close proximity to human settlements.

But the tiger isn’t the only predator at Ranthambhor, though it may be its most famous one. Leopards live in the higher vegetation, while the lakes are infested with marsh crocodiles on whom the tigers sometimes prey. There are also caracals, jungle cats, jackals, hyenas and sloth bears. Among foraging animals are deer (sambhar, chital, nilgai, chinkara), wild boar, and of course also species such as hare, mongoose, and monitor lizard.

In the attention one pays to the tiger, it is easy to get distracted from the birdlife attracted to the park because of its aquatic habitat. The landscape with its lakes, vegetation, the second-largest banyan tree in the country (in which langurs have taken up residence), the occasional palace or building, make it one of the most picturesque parks in the country.

SARISKA NATIONAL PARK (Alwar)

Once the hunting reserve of the maharajas of Alwar, in whose jurisdiction it fell, Sariska’a forests are typical of the Aravallis with their undulating terrain of low hills, teep escarpments, wide valleys and hill plateaus. A natural habitat for the tiger, it could have held a commendable population of these tigers had the forests around the park not been vandalized in the recent decades. Today, the region is a major milk pocket, and cattle have eroded the forestlands and pastures around the park, so that the population of wildlife has shrunk to the limits of the park alone. Human population and the presence of religions spots around and inside the park have further led to the deterioration of the environment.

For all that, Sariska is a heavily forested reserve, and a drive through the park shows up a large number of deer species (sambhar, chital, nilgai) as well as langurs that inhabit the tree cover. Also residents of the reserve, though almost as elusive as the tiger on account of the cover of vegetation, are leopard, jungle cat, jackal, hyena, and wild dot. Observers often gather at hides close to waterholes to view and photograph wildlife though, of course, they cannot stay beyond evening light. When deer come to feed at these waterholes, they attract the presence of leopards, tigers and wild dogs, especially in summer when all other sources of water shrink and vaporize.

Like all parks, there is also a variety of bird life in Sariska that includes the gray partridge, white-breasted kingfisher, golden-backed woodpecker, serpent eagle, great Indian horned owl, and others.

Bhensrodgarh (Kota)

Close to Kota (53 km), it consists of scrub and dry deciduous forest and is home to leopard sloth bear and chinkara.

DARRAH (Kota)

Once the hunting preserve for the royal family of Kota, this sanctuary, 50 km from Kota, is home to sloth bears, chinkaras, the leopard and the wolf.

JAISAMAND (Udaipur)

Located on the fringes of a vast man-made lake of the same name, the small sanctuary is picturesque and houses leopard, wild board and a variety of deer, while its waters are home to a population of crocodiles. 50 km from Udaipur.

KUMBALGARH (Udaipur)

A large sanctuary in the Aravalli’s 120 km from Udaipur, it has a formidable collection of wildlife that includes leopards and sloth bear, a variety of deer including the chousinga or four-horned antelope, and the ratel as well as the flying squirrel.

MOUNT ABU SANCTUARY

Located on the fringes of the town of the same name, this small sanctuary is thickly forested. Wildlife includes leopard, chinkara, sloth bear, sambhar and wild boar. The slopes of the hills provide some of the state’s most interesting topography, especially since the height of this hill station keeps it cool even in the summer months.

CHAMBAL

Just beyond Kota, along the banks of the river Chambal all the way to its confluence with the Jamuna, this is where the waters are rich with gharial crocodiles for which it is a breeding centre. Other wildlife includes caracal, wolf, blackbuck and chinkara.

SITAMATA (Udaipur)

In forests of bamboo and dry deciduous vegetation, 108 km from Uaipur, this forested sanctuary provides rich foraging pastures for a variety of deer that include the chousingha, and for caracal, wild boar, pangolin and leopard.

TALCHAPPAR (Nagaur)

A very small sanctuary, 210 km from Jaipur and in the Shekhawati region, this home to a large population of graceful blackbuck. Desert fox and desert cat can also be spotted along with typical avifauna such as partridge and sandgrouse.

KHEECHAN, (Phalodi)

A drive through the countryside, 75 kms beyond Osian, brings you to Phalodi, the city of richly carved havelis and temples, nearby lies the village of kheechan, which is a regular host to the flocks of demoiselle cranes (locally called kurjan), which come in thousands due to the amiable conditions and protection given by the villages. Their duration of stay is about 5 to 6 months, after which they go back to their breeding grounds, in March-April. Many folk songs are based on them.