First in India, Jaipur is now home to two leopard reserves

Jaipur is India’s first city to get two leopard reserves – Jhalana Leopard Reserve and the newly-added Amagarh Leopard Reserve. The reserve forest of Amagarh is located in the Aravalis, and is an important leopard habitat. Spread across a total of 1,524 ha, the Amagarh Leopard Reserve is home to 15 leopards. This development is a part of Project Leopard, an initiative started in Rajasthan back in 2017 for the conservation of the big cat population in the state. Under this project, the leopard population in Jhalana Leopard Reserve showed a good and healthy increase. Amagarh Reserve is an important wildlife corridor for not just leopards, but also other important animals like hyenas, jackals, wild cats, foxes, civet cats, nilgai, sambhar, rabbits, among others. The forest department has also announced that there will be leopard safaris in these areas and will be conducted in two shifts – morning and evening. The forest department is allowing only a limited number of safari vehicles inside the reserve forest in order to avoid overcrowding and creating a disturbance for the wildlife in the area. For safaris, bookings can be done through the Forest Department, Rajasthan Government official website. Other popular wildlife destinations in Rajasthan are: Ranthambore National Park, Sariska Tiger Reserve, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, Jamwa Ramgarh and Tal Chappar Sanctuary. Though Tal Chappar is a lesser known destination, it is one of the best in the region for blackbuck sightings and birdwatching, especially raptors. Also, a very good place to find the spiny-tailed lizard, listed as Vulnerable by IUCN.