Where we stand, and why
On foot, in the cool of the morning, the old ramp up to Amber is quiet. The view over Maota Lake opens slowly behind you, and you reach the Suraj Pol, the Sun Gate, at the pace its builders intended. It is a better arrival than any ride, and the elephants are spared the climb.
Elephants are wild animals: even after generations among people. Carrying visitors up stone ramps in the sun, day after day, and being chained between shifts is hard on them. The training that makes them obedient is harder still.
- Elephant rides
- Never booked, at Amber or anywhere
- Captive shows
- Never booked
- Safari rule
- No baiting, chasing or spotlights
- Camel rides
- Short, cool hours, one adult per camel
- Our question
- Is the animal better or worse off because we came?
- What we do at Amber instead: we walk guests up the old ramparts in the cool of the morning, or drive them to the upper gate of Amber Fort.
- No elephant camps either: we don't visit camps or villages where visitors bathe, paint, feed or ride elephants. Our journal on why we don't offer elephant rides explains our thinking in full.
- The same rule everywhere: no captive animal shows, no snake charmers, performing monkeys or men with parrots and owls for photographs, and nothing that involves handling, feeding or posing with a wild animal.
- What that leaves: tigers in Ranthambore, leopards on the granite of Jawai, a wetland full of birds at Keoladeo, blackbuck in Bishnoi fields and cranes at Khichan. They cost the animals nothing but a little of their time.
- We are not purists: Rajasthan has always lived with working animals. We arrange short camel and horse rides with owners we know, visit the great livestock fairs and watch the temple traditions that feed rats at Deshnoke and pigeons in the squares.
What we will not book
Elephant rides: at Amber Fort or anywhere else, and visits to elephant camps or villages where visitors ride, bathe, paint or feed elephants.
Captive animal shows: of any kind, including snake charmers, performing monkeys, dancing animals and roadside acts.
- Photo props: photographs with captive wild animals, birds or snakes, wherever they are offered.
- Bad safaris: operators who bait leopards or tigers, chase animals, crowd them with vehicles or use spotlights at night.
- Feeding for fun: including monkeys at temples and forts. Religious offerings made by devotees are a different matter, and we watch them with respect.
- Hard riding: long or heavy camel and horse rides, rides in the heat of the day, or rides on animals that look tired, thin or injured.
- Wildlife souvenirs: ivory, shahtoosh shawls woven from the wool of the protected Tibetan antelope, tortoiseshell, coral or skins. Most are illegal in India, and all of them cost an animal its life.
- Snake charmers and monkey men: both are banned under India's wildlife laws, and paying for a photograph keeps the trade alive.
What we book instead, place by place
Tigers in Ranthambore
Why here: the dry deciduous forest around a tenth-century fort and its lakes is one of the best places in the world to see a wild tiger.
- How we do it: small jeeps with experienced naturalists, spread over two or three days so no single drive carries too much pressure.
- Where we stay: lodges that support the park and the villages around it.
- Read more: our guide to tiger and leopard safaris explains zones, and the best time for tigers explains seasons.
Leopards in Jawai
The setting: leopards live among farming villages and Rabari herders in granite hills, with no fence and no park gate.
- The problem: as Jawai has become famous, some operators have taken to baiting and chasing the cats.
- Who we work with: only lodges and naturalists who refuse, above all SUJAN JAWAI, whose team holds a firm line on ethical safaris.
- On the ground: permitted tracks only, never through crops, and never shrines as viewpoints without permission.
Leopards on the edge of Jaipur
Where: the scrub-covered hills of Jhalana, on the south-eastern edge of Jaipur, a protected leopard reserve.
- When: jeep safaris at dawn and dusk, with frequent sightings, especially in the dry months when the scrub thins.
- Why it suits: the easiest way to add a wild cat to a city stay. See our things to do in Jaipur.
Birds at Keoladeo
What it is: Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Asia's finest bird reserves.
- No engines: motor vehicles are kept out of its heart, so you go by cycle rickshaw with a trained rickshaw-guide, by bicycle or on foot.
- Best season: winter, when migrants join the storks, pelicans, ducks and raptors. See birding in Bharatpur.
Blackbuck and raptors at Tal Chhapar
Where: open grassland in Churu district, at Tal Chhapar.
- What you see: large herds of blackbuck and, in winter, harriers, eagles and other birds of prey.
- Why go: small, quiet and best at dawn and dusk, with few visitors. Our birding journey pairs it with Bharatpur.
The great Indian bustard in the Thar
Where: the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer, one of the last refuges of this tall, critically endangered grassland bird.
- Be realistic: sightings are never certain. You may see only chinkara and larks.
- How we behave: we keep well back from enclosures and breeding areas and go with a naturalist who knows the grassland.
Blackbuck and the Bishnoi
Where: the Bishnoi villages south of Jodhpur.
- Why they are tame: blackbuck and chinkara graze near the houses, protected by the community's faith for more than five centuries.
- The gentlest encounter in Rajasthan: a morning with a Bishnoi family. See the Bishnoi villages.
Cranes at Khichan
When: from about September to March.
- What happens: thousands of demoiselle cranes gather each morning at Khichan, near Phalodi, to be fed by the villagers, a tradition kept for generations.
- How we watch: before dawn, from a respectful distance. See wildlife around the temples.
Gharials and river dolphins on the Chambal
Where: the National Chambal Sanctuary, a few hours from Agra.
- Who lives there: gharials, the long-snouted fish-eating crocodiles, mugger crocodiles, river turtles, Indian skimmers and, with luck, Gangetic river dolphins.
- How: a slow winter boat trip with a naturalist. Our Agra things to do guide combines it with the Taj.
Wild ass and flamingos in Kutch
Beyond Rajasthan: in Kutch, the Little Rann is the last home of the Indian wild ass, called khur, a pale, fast animal of the salt flats.
- Flamingos: in good winters, greater and lesser flamingos gather on the shallow waters of the Rann.
- How we go: with local naturalists, at dawn, keeping well back from the herds and the breeding birds.
Rescue, not rides: Wildlife SOS near Agra and Mathura
The bears: the charity Wildlife SOS runs the Agra Bear Rescue Facility, home to sloth bears rescued from the dancing-bear trade.
- The elephants: its Elephant Conservation and Care Centre on the Mathura road shelters elephants rescued from begging, circuses and logging.
- Visiting: both by arrangement. Seeing a rescued elephant walk free, with no one on its back, changes how many guests think.
The rules we follow on every safari
The best safari guides in Rajasthan are not the ones who find the most tigers. They are the ones who know when to switch off the engine, when to wait and when to leave.
No baiting, ever: animals are never lured with food or tied livestock so that guests can photograph them.
No chasing: if an animal moves away, we let it go.
- Baiting
- Never
- Flash and drones
- Never
- Voices
- Low, seated, in the vehicle
- Crowded sighting
- We hang back or leave
- Tips
- Directly to naturalist and tracker
- Give it room: keep a respectful distance, and never block an animal's path to water, cover or its young.
- Stay seated and quiet: standing and shouting stress animals and spoil the moment for everyone.
- No flash, spotlights or drones: at any hour, anywhere.
- Avoid the jam: if several vehicles gather at one sighting, we hang back or leave. A crowd of jeeps around one leopard is not a sighting worth having.
- Follow the park: permitted tracks, park rules and timings, and take nothing from the forest, not even a feather.
- Tip fairly and directly: naturalists and trackers protect these places every day of the year.
- Tell us: if anything on a drive made you uncomfortable. That feedback decides which camps and operators we keep.
Camels, horses and the working animals of Rajasthan
Camels still work: across western Rajasthan they pull carts, carry loads and earn their owners a living from visitors at the dunes.
Why riding can help: camel numbers have fallen sharply as roads and tractors replaced them, and herding families struggle. A ride with a caring owner supports both.
How we choose: handlers who keep their camels healthy, rested and properly fed. We look at the animal before anyone climbs on.
- Camel ride length
- Usually an hour or less
- Riding hours
- Early morning or evening, never midday in summer
- Load
- One adult per camel
- Pushkar Camel Fair
- Month of Kartik, October or November
- Nagaur Cattle Fair
- Winter
- When we say no: if a camel looks tired, thin or sore, we don't ride, and we tell the owner why.
- Longer journeys: our camel safari page explains how we plan nights on the sand, and the journal on the camels of Rajasthan tells their story.
- The Marwari horse: bred with pride on the estates of Marwar, recognisable by its curving, inward-turned ears.
- Riding well: only with estates and stables that keep good tack, regular farriers and riders matched to their ability. See Marwari horse safaris, polo and horses and on horseback through Marwar.
- The great fairs: the Pushkar Camel Fair and the Nagaur Cattle Fair are trading fairs, the living economy of the herding communities.
- At the fairs: we go with guides who know the traders, don't pay for photographs of decorated animals and avoid staged races and stunts put on for visitors.
Animals in sacred places
Deshnoke: at the Karni Mata temple, around 20,000 rats, called kabas, are fed and protected as the goddess's own family.
Galtaji: hundreds of rhesus macaques live among the temples and sacred tanks of Galtaji in Jaipur.
- Mandore: grey langurs sit on the roofs of the royal cenotaphs near Jodhpur.
- Our job: to watch respectfully, follow the lead of worshippers and never turn the animals into a show. These traditions long predate tourism.
- What that means: no feeding for fun, no chasing, no flash at shrines, and shoes off where the temple asks.
- It is fine to skip: some guests won't want to go, and we never push anyone. Our page on wildlife around the temples describes these places in detail.
When to go for wildlife
October to March: the main season for almost everything here, with mild days and cool mornings.
November to February: the best months for birds, when winter migrants reach Keoladeo, Tal Chhapar, the Jawai reservoir and the lakes of Marwar, and Khichan's cranes are most numerous.
- Main season
- October to March
- Birds
- November to February
- Tigers at waterholes
- April to June
- Ranthambore core zones
- Closed about July to September
- Best hours
- Dawn and the last two hours of light
- Leopards in Jawai: sightings are good all through the cool months.
- Tigers: April to June often brings the best sightings at waterholes as the forest thins, though the heat is fierce and drives start very early.
- The monsoon: Ranthambore's core zones close from about July to September, and some outer zones may stay open, so we confirm each year.
- Green season pleasures: the monsoon brings dancing peacocks, newborn animals and lovely village visits, but not big-cat safaris.
- The daily rhythm: rise early, rest through the middle of the day, go out again in the late afternoon.
- Plan by month: our best time to visit Rajasthan guide goes month by month, and Wild Rajasthan introduces every park and sanctuary.
How we choose the people we work with
We go and see: we visit the lodges, camps and stables we book, and we go back.
We ask questions: naturalists, trackers and camel owners tell us how they work, and we watch how they behave when they think no one important is looking.
- Small and local: we prefer owner-run operations with long roots in the area.
- Good employers: lodges that hire local people, support the villages around them and contribute to conservation.
- Your reports matter: if you see a vehicle too close, an animal called or chased, or a camel that looks unwell, tell your guide and us. More than once a guest's report has ended our work with an operator.
- Money where it helps: tip naturalists, trackers and handlers directly, and buy milk, ghee or crafts from herding families when offered.
- Read more: our page on travelling responsibly and the journal on sustainable travel in Rajasthan.
What most visitors miss
A leopard reserve inside Jaipur: Jhalana is a short drive from the walled city, and most visitors never hear of it.
The Bishnoi story: in 1730, at Khejarli near Jodhpur, Bishnoi villagers gave their lives to stop the felling of their khejri trees. Ask your guide to tell it in the village itself.
- The orans: across the Thar, villages protect sacred groves around shrines where no tree may be cut and no animal hunted. Some are among the last refuges of desert wildlife.
- Khichan on the way: the crane village sits on the road between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, so a dawn stop costs you only an early start.
- Birds at the lodges: many Ranthambore and Jawai camps are rich in birds. An hour with binoculars on the lawn after breakfast is never wasted.
- The Chambal by boat: a gharial basking on a sandbank, its long snout resting on the sand, is one of the oldest-looking sights in India.
- Rescued animals: a half-day with Wildlife SOS near Agra puts a face on every rule on this page.
How long to allow
Don't rush tigers: a single drive in Ranthambore is a lottery. Four or five over two or three days turns it into a fair chance.
- Ranthambore
- Two to three nights, four or five drives
- Jawai
- Two to three nights
- Keoladeo
- Two mornings, one by rickshaw, one by bicycle
- Tal Chhapar
- One night, with dusk and dawn drives
- Khichan
- One sunrise, on the Jodhpur to Jaisalmer road
- Wildlife SOS
- A half day from Agra
- Stay for leopards: in Jawai the best sightings come to those who stay, and the second evening is often better than the first.
- Mix the pace: follow a run of early safaris with a slow day at a palace, so you return to the forest rested and patient.
Before you go on safari
Dress in dull colours: khaki, olive and brown blend in. Bright white and red stand out in the forest.
Layer up in winter: open jeeps at dawn from December to February are cold. Bring a hat, gloves and a warm jacket you can peel off by ten.
- Binoculars for everyone: a good pair each, especially for children, turns a distant shape into a leopard.
- A long lens, not a loud one: 400 millimetres or more helps in Jawai, and a beanbag on the rail is steadier than a tripod.
- Silence your phone: ringtones carry far in a quiet forest.
- Leave no trace: no plastic, no food scraps, nothing thrown from the jeep.
- Manage expectations: wild animals keep their own hours. Book several drives rather than one, and enjoy the birds, deer and landscape in between.
Who will love these encounters
Families
- Why it works: children remember a wild tiger, a leopard on a rock or a cloud of cranes for life, and learn what no captive animal can teach.
- Pacing: our family journeys explain how we plan safaris for younger travellers.
Photographers
- Better pictures: ethical guiding means relaxed animals, natural behaviour and no crowd of jeeps in the frame.
- Built for light: our photographer's Rajasthan gives these images the patience they need.
Wildlife lovers
- Journeys to choose: Palaces and Tigers and Big cats and birds combine Ranthambore, Jawai and Bharatpur with palace stays.
- Time in each park: two or three nights at least, so the animals come to you.
Who might be disappointed
- Guarantees: if you want a certain sighting, an elephant ride or a photograph holding an animal, we are the wrong company for you.
- Quiet mornings: some drives bring only pugmarks and birdsong. We think those mornings are worth having too.