India’s Small Cats Safari

Arrive in Kolkata and settle into the rhythm of eastern India’s cultural capital. By night, explore the fringes of the city where wetlands, fishponds, and mangrove edges support thriving populations of the elusive Fishing Cat. Expert trackers lead nocturnal excursions offering rare photographic opportunities. Days allow time to experience Kolkata’s vibrant markets, colonial heritage, and culinary landscape.

Travel west to Velavadar, a vast expanse of golden grasslands home to Jungle Cats, Indian Wolves, Jackals, and Blackbuck herds. Early mornings and late afternoons provide optimal light as Jungle Cats hunt rodents and birds across open plains. With extended time in the ecosystem, you can focus on behavior, tracking, and long-lens photography while enjoying the serene, open landscapes.

Continue to Jawai, where granite boulders, caves, and scrub forest create ideal terrain for the Rusty-spotted Cat , the world’s smallest wild cat. Safaris traverse rocky outcrops also known for thriving Leopard populations and dramatic scenery. Spend unhurried days and nights exploring this unique co-existence landscape, capturing rare species in rugged, atmospheric settings.

Enter the stark beauty of the Thar Desert, where sweeping dunes and sparse scrub support the adaptable Desert Cat. With its superb camouflage, sightings reward patient scanning and quiet observation. Track natural water sources and rodent hotspots, while also photographing desert foxes, eagles, vultures, and other arid-zone specialists. Evenings highlight some of India’s finest desert skies.

Conclude your journey with a transfer to Jaisalmer Airport. Optional extensions include Ranthambhore for Tigers, Gir for Asiatic Lions, or Ladakh for Snow Leopards , allowing you to build the most comprehensive cat-focused expedition in India.

The journey unfolds as a rare passage through India’s most diverse small-cat landscapes, each region offering a distinct setting and signature encounter. The wetlands around Kolkata introduce the fishing cat, a globally vulnerable species and one of the few felines in the world adapted to semi-aquatic life, often encountered along marshes and canals at dusk.

In the open grasslands of Velavadar, jungle cats move with confidence through tall grasses and scrub, drawn by abundant prey and the wide-open visibility of one of India’s finest remaining grassland ecosystems.

Jawai’s ancient granite hills bring a sense of intimacy and rarity, offering one of the best chances to encounter the rusty-spotted cat, the smallest wild cat on Earth, seldom seen despite its presence across parts of India.

The journey concludes in the Thar Desert, where patience is rewarded as the desert cat, among the country’s least-observed felines, emerges briefly against moonlit dunes, shaped by extremes of heat, wind, and scarcity. Together, these landscapes create a seamless narrative of discovery, a richly layered exploration of India’s most elusive wild cats and the extraordinary terrains they inhabit.