Asian safaris reveal some of the world’s most unique and remote species from the komodo dragon in Indonesia to the reindeer of Siberia and Mongolia. Go tiger watching in India, fall in love with a panda in China and marvel at the whales and dolphins of the Maldives. There is plenty of adventure too with elephant or horse back safaris and ocean cruises.
- Panda safaris, China This protected species live in Sichuan Province and just over the boundary line in Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. In the reserves of Foping and Changqing you can track and view wild pandas in their natural habitat and enjoy the high altitude primary forest.
- Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal The steamy Inner Terai of central Nepal was once one of the most famous big game hunting areas in Asia. Fortunately the lead shooting has finished and it now provides protection to the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, sloth bear and the gaur (wild bison) and over 400 species of birds.
- Mongolian gazelle migration Safari over the remote steppe for one of Asia’s largest remaining wildlife populations. Every year in eastern Mongolia, a million gazelles migrate over grounds that border Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and China.
- Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra This park near Bukit Lawang is where you come to see and fall in love with Orangutans. There is a rehabilitation center here that teaches young orangutans to live in the wild. The parks extensive wildlife also includes gibbons, tapirs, elephants, tigers and rhinos.
- Horse safari, Mongolia Go on safari into the remote northern region of Mongolia inhabited by the Tsaatan people, nomadic reindeer herdsmen. Journey deep into the taiga forest camping by alpine pastures and mountains.
- The Maldives This small island lies 400 miles southwest of southern India and is composed entirely of coral atolls. These reefs have become a tourist attraction but few realize there are such rich populations of whales and dolphins. Some are very rare species but common to these waters.
- Hokkaido, Japan In winter this is the place to be to watch the elegant Japanese cranes dancing in the snow, Steller’s sea-eagles gathering on the sea-ice and the spectacle of white-naped and hooded cranes in their thousands. A bird watchers dream.
- Komodo dragons, Indonesia These dragons are named after the dry island on which they were discovered. On this island the dragon is king and eats any and all of the other large animals here if it can including wild boar, deer, water buffalo, dogs and goats.
- Reindeer, Siberia Drive a reindeer sled over uninhabited taiga, through forest and past lakes in one of the coldest, bleakest places on earth. The friendly welcome from locals and their vodka will more than warm you.
- Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks, India There is no place better to see the world’s ultimate feline predator, the tiger, than here in lush grassland and forest in the heart of India. Elephant safaris help you get right up to the beasts and if you’re lucky you might even surprise a hunt. You can also encounter other animals such as the lovely chital (spotted deer), dhole (the rare Indian wild dog) or birds.
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