7 of the Best South Asian Safari Spots

The granddaddy of all Indian safari destinations, Ranthambore National Park is considered the best place in the world to spot the notoriously elusive Bengal tiger. It's a popular side trip from both Jaipur and Agra, and tours of Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle often dip down to the park to give visitors the chance to go on a game drive or two. Ranthambore National Park safari packages usually include round-trip transportation from either Jaipur or the nearby community of Sawai Madhopur.

If you're planning a Sri Lankan safari, chances are high that you have your eye on Yala National Park. It’s the country's most-visited national park, and for good reason, spanning prime territory for spotting elephants, buffalo, jackals, and sloths, as well as its most famous resident: the Sri Lankan leopard. In fact, the park has one of the highest densities of leopards on earth, and most visitors sign up for Yala National Park safaris in hopes of seeing some of the spotted cats.

While most people picture lions in Africa, you may be surprised to hear that a small population of these noble beasts can be found in India. Known as Asiatic lions, this subspecies once thrived across southwest Asia, but these days, the lions are only found in the western Indian state of Gujarat. If you want to see them in the wild for yourself, you need only head to Gir National Park, where you can take a safari in an open-air Jeep. Of course, it's not just lions that call the park home: Gir is home to 41 species of mammals, 47 types of reptiles, and hundreds of varieties of birds.

Elephants are the stars at Udawalawe National Park, about a 90-minute drive east of Yala. Roughly 500 Sri Lankan elephants live there, along with wild boars, water birds, and a smattering of other species. Still, elephants are the big draw, and the lack of tall bushes and scrub in the landscape makes it pretty hard to miss the gentle giants. Safari options abound in the park, and driver-guides will take you right to the area where pachyderms are known to congregate.

Nepal's first national park, this UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Himalayan foothills is a fabulous place for wildlife spotting, and both single-horned Asiatic rhinoceros and Bengal tigers can be found within its boundaries. This lowland park protects the last surviving natural ecosystem in Nepal's Terai region, and while the animals are the biggest draw for most travelers on safari, botany buffs will find a richness of native flora to check out, too.

In India's northeastern state of Assam, Kaziranga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects the world's largest population of single-horned rhinoceroses, offering a fantastic opportunity to see these magnificent creatures in the wild. Other park residents include panthers, sloth bears, elephants, and pangolins, many of which can be spotted on Jeep safaris throughout the park. It’s also a unique place for birding, and has been deemed an Important Bird Area by global NGO BirdLife International.

If you want ecological diversity—or just really like birds—you can't go wrong with a trip to Bundala National Park. As with Kaziranga National Park in India, this coastal wetland park is a designated Important Bird Area, as well as a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve. The hundreds of bird species that call the park home are enough to attract masses of binocular-wielding birdwatchers every year, but there are also a few dozen species of mammals found here, including primates, Asian elephants, porcupines, fishing cats, and the pint-sized rusty spotted cats, which are smaller than the average house cat.