In December 2024 we spent five days at Diphlu River Lodge ("Diphlu") in
Kaziranga NP ("Kaziranga") in Assam, India. It is located in a finger of India in the northeast that stretches eastward between Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China.
Kaziranga is about 25 miles long from west to east and 8 miles wide from north to south and covers about 146 square miles. The
Brahmaputra River, which means "son of Brahma" in Sanskrit, is the 9th largest river in the world by discharge, and the 15th longest, and is the northern and eastern boundary of Kaziranga. The Brahmaputra originates in the northern Himalayas in Tibet and merges with the Ganges in Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. We visited in winter, which is November to February, when it is mild and dry, with an average high of 77 degrees and a low of 41 degrees. Summer is March to May with temperatures up to 99 degrees. Monsoon is June to September, with a peak of July and August, when most of the 87 inches of annual rainfall occurs. During floods, which can last weeks at a time, 70% of the western portion of Kaziranga is under water. Kaziranga is closed from May 1 to October 31 because of the flooding.
Kaziranga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (named in 1985), is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International and was declared a Tiger Preserve (in 2006) with the highest tiger density in the world (Nature Safari India calls it the best tiger reserve in India), although the lush foliage makes the tigers more difficult to see. Assam was recently named by the New York Times as one of 52 places to visit in 2025 (in fourth place, listing Kaziranga as one of the things to do there).
Kaziranga has the world's largest population of Indian (one-horned) rhinos: about 2,700 of 3,588 global Indian rhinos (75%). The Indian rhino is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Kaziranga has the world's largest population of wild water buffalo: about 1,431 of 3,400 (42%). 95% of them are in India and most of them are in Assam. The wild water buffalo is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Kaziranga has the world's largest population of eastern swamp deer, or barasingha. The swamp deer is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. There are three subspecies, the western, southern and eastern swamp deer. The eastern swamp deer is only found in Assam and the vast majority, about 756, are found in Kaziranga. As indicated above, Kaziranga has the world's highest density of Bengal tigers per square kilometer. There are an estimated 4,011 Bengal tigers in the world and 85%, or 3,425, are found in India. 118 of those are in Kaziranga. The Bengal tiger is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Unfortunately, we did not see a tiger. Kaziranga has the world's highest density of Indian elephants in the world. There are an estimated 27,312 wild Indian elephants in the world and three-fourths of them are in India. Kaziranga has about 1,940, or about 7.1% of the world's total. The Indian elephant is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
Kazeringa has some magnificent snakes (which we did not see), including the reticulated python, Indian rock python, Indian cobra, monocled cobra, Russell's viper and common krait.
Kaziranga has four separate ranges. The Central Range is accessed at Kohora and has the longest safari route. It also has the most tigers and is the best place to see them. We did the Central Range twice, on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. The Central Range is 16.9 kilometers east of Diphlu (about a 27 minute drive). The Western Range is accessed at Bagori and has the largest population of rhinos in Kaziranga and is also good for seeing tigers. We did the Western Range twice as well, once on Monday afternoon after we first arrived and again on Thursday afternoon. The Western Range is 3.8 kilometers east of Diphlue (about a 7 minute drive). The Eastern Range is accessed at Agratoli and is best known for birds and wetlands. I did it alone on Friday morning with our naturalist and driver while the three others I was traveling with went to the Brahmaputra river to look for river dolphins. The Eastern Range is 36.1 kilometers east of Diphlu (about a 53 minute drive). This was my favorite day as I loved all of the birds which the others in our group did not care as much about. The Burhapahar Range (the farthest west range) is accessed at Gorakati. It has hilly terrain and is the least visited because it does not have many rhinos or elephants. It is best for birds and monkeys (Kaziranga contains 9 of the world's 14 primate species). The Burhapahar Range is 17.9 kilometers west of Diphlue (about a 32 minute drive). We did the Burhapahar Range once, on Wednesday morning. It does not have as much bird life as the Eastern Range, or even the other ranges. It was my least favorite range, but we did see quite a bit of bird life along the main paved road getting there.
Here are some photos of the animals I saw in Kaziranga:
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| Indian (one-horned) rhino with large baby. |
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| Indian elephants |
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| Eastern swamp deer |
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| Wild water buffalo |
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| Asian openbill (stork) |
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| Asian woolly-necked stork |
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| Black-necked stork |
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| Lesser adjutant (stork) |
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| Crested serpent-eagle |
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| Gray-headed fish-eagle |
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| Pallas's fish-eagle |
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| Eurasian kestrel |
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| Oriental honey-buzzard |
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| Changeable hawk-eagle |
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| Spotted owlet |
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| Asian barred owlet |
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| Capped langur |
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| Rhesus macaque |
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| Black giant squirrel |
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| Eurasian wild pig |
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| Indian flying fox (bat) |
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| Indian hog deer |
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| Smooth-coated otter |
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| Eurasian wigeon |
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| Falcated duck |
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| Indian spot-billed duck |
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| Northern pintail |
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| Ruddy shelduck |
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| Eurasian green-winged teal |
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| Ferruginous duck |
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| Common pochard |
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| Lesser whistling duck |
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| Mallard |
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| Tufted duck |
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| Gadwall |
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| Northern lapwing |
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| Red-wattled lapwing |
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| River lapwing |
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| Grey-headed lapwing |
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| Indian roofed turtle |
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| Oriental garden lizard |
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| Tokay gecko |
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| Bengal monitor |
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| Black-headed ibis |
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| Glossy ibis |
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| Indian pond heron |
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| Intermediate egret |
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| Little egret |
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| Grey heron |
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| Bar-headed goose |
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| Graylag goose |
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| Great cormorant |
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| Little cormorant |
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| Oriental darter |
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| Common kingfisher |
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| Pied kingfisher |
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| White-throated kingfisher |
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| Stork-billed kingfisher |
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| Wood sandpiper |
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| Green sandpiper |
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| Common greenshank |
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| Common redshank |
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| Oriental turtle dove |
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| Spotted dove |
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| White wagtail |
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| Indian pied starling |
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| Citrine wagtail |
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| Eastern yellow wagtail |
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| Green imperial pigeon |
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| Yellow-footed green pigeon |
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| Crimson sunbird |
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| Purple sunbird |
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| Scarlet minivet - male |
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| Scarlet minivet - female |
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| Greater flameback (woodpecker) |
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| Grey-headed woodpecker |
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| Lineated barbet |
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| Blue-throated barbet |
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| Common iora |
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| Rufous treepie |
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| Ashy Woodswallow |
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| Blue whistling thrush |
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| Hair-crested drongo |
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| Oriental magpie robin |
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| Red junglefowl |
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| Red-vented bulbul |
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| Black drongo |
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| Bronze-winged jacana |
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| Common myna |
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| Great hornbill |
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| Indochinese roller |
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| Oriental pied hornbill |
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| Rose-ringed parakeet |
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| Alexandrine parakeet |
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| Asian green bee-eater |
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| Slender-billed vulture |
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| Spot-billed pelican |
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| Swamp francolin |
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| Zitting cisticola |
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| Common hoopoe |
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| Grey-backed shrike |
I saw 95 species of birds in India, the vast majority of them in Kaziranga. That is incredible compared to 93 species of birds found in Colombia and 93 species of birds found in Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands. Plus, Kaziranga has the fascinating one-horned rhino and Indian elephant and the elusive Bengal tiger that I did not get to see.
