Over 7,000 species of flora and fauna call Gujarat home, and among them is the iconic Asiatic lion found nowhere else on the planet in the wild. Gujarat's Great and Little Rann of Kutch are noted for their diverse birdlife, while the state is also home to the iconic Indian wild ass. Graceful blackbucks can be observed in the state's Blackbuck National Park, and its coastal waters are ideal venues for watching interesting marine life, such as dolphins. Here are seven iconic animals to see in Gujarat.
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| A male Asiatic lion in Gir, Gujarat. Image credit: Sumeet Moghe via Wikimedia Commons. |
Obviously, when talking about animals that live in Gujarat, the first species that comes to mind is the Asiatic lion. It is definitely the pride of the state as Gujarat is home to 100% of the wild population of this endangered species. Once widespread across large parts of Asia, the Asiatic lion was ruthlessly hunted down to near extinction. In India, British rule was most lethal to these big cats, and by 1893, lions had been eliminated from the rest of the country except for a tiny population of around a dozen in the Junagadh area of Gujarat. Fortunately, the efforts of the local rulers and later the government of free India, as well as the pride of the people of Gujarat in the lion, all worked together to bring back the Asiatic lion from the brink. Today, an estimated 700 lions are in Gujarat, primarily concentrated in the Gir National Park and surrounding non-protected areas.
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| A sarus crane pair in courtship display. Image credit: Hari K. Patibanda via Flickr.com. |
The people of Gujarat have always revered sarus cranes. It is said that in some villages, it is customary for newly married couples to witness sarus cranes in the wild to have a happy married life since these birds are known to mate for life. However, while there is respect and love for the birds, there are many threats as well. The sarus cranes are primarily ground-dwelling wetland birds and also build their nests on the ground, making them extremely vulnerable to many threats. Loss of wetlands over large parts of their range has forced these threatened birds to take refuge in croplands where people and machinery movement, feral dogs, and pesticide use endanger the survival of adult birds, chicks, and eggs.
Despite the grave situation, however, the number of these birds has risen from just around 500 in 2015-16 to around 1,150, as per the latest census in December 2022. Around 80% of this sarus crane population of Gujarat occurs in the three districts of Ahmedabad, Anand, and Kheda.
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| A mother and baby Indian wild ass in the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Image credit: Balaji Venkatesh Sivaramakrishnan via Flickr.com. |
Gujarat can also boast of housing the entire wild population of another species besides the lion - the Indian wild ass. Formerly found across a large range stretching from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent, today, the wild ass is only found in Gujarat, where it is called the khur or ghudkhur. According to the Indian wild ass census conducted every four years, the number of this species has risen from 6,082 in 2020 to 7,672 in 2024, with the Surendranagar, Kutch, and Patan districts hosting the highest populations of this species. The Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch is the best place to see and photograph these wild asses in the state. Deserts, arid grasslands and shrublands comprise the habitat of this near-threatened species. The Indian wild ass is known for its fast-running abilities, achieving speeds as high as 80 km per hour and can even outrun a jeep. In the past, diseases had wiped out large populations of the species, but currently, they are monitored for disease outbreaks. Habitat loss, invasive plants, and grazing by cattle of local communities are the biggest threats to this species today.
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| A mugger crocodile in Charotar, Gujarat. Image credit: Rupeshsarkar via Wikimedia Commons. |
In the recent monsoon floods that swept through Gujarat, news poured in of people spotting muggers on Vadodara's streets. Indeed, Vadodara can easily claim to be India's "croc city!" A 22 km section of the Vishwamitri river flowing through the city is home to an estimated 300 crocs! These crocs, however, do not just remain confined to the river but use the 410-km-long network of stormwater drains crisscrossing Vadodara for their movement. When the river overflows in the monsoons, the crocodiles can be spotted crawling along the streets and homes of the city! The Charotar Wetlands is another crocodile-spotting hotspot in Gujarat. All this is actually good news because the muggers despite appearing like huge threats to human life are actually threatened themselves. They are labelled as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
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| Blackbucks in Velavadar Blackbuck National Park. Image credit: Panchasarakrutarth via Wikimedia Commons. |
Blackbucks, the fastest mammals in India prior to the re-introduction of cheetahs, find their haven in the Blackbuck National Park of Velavadar, Gujarat. The park, formerly the hunting ground of the ruler of Bhavnagar, was made a national park in 1976. It has a combination of grasslands, shrublands, saline land and tidal mudflats. Thus, taking a safari in the park offers views of interesting and changing landscapes and large herds of the graceful antelopes - the blackbucks. Where there is prey, there is also predator and this national park has a rare predator - the Indian wolf. While the wolf has disappeared across vast areas of its former range in India, the Black National Park is one of its last strongholds.
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| Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin. Image credit: Mandy via Wikimedia Commons. |
Good news is coming from Gujarat's coastal waters. A 200% increase has been noted in the number of Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins along the Gujarat coast extending from Sir Creek to the Gulf of Khambhat. The number has risen from only 221 in 2022 to 678, as per the census in January 2024! Now, tourists can take boat tours to Mithapur and Okha to enjoy the delightful view of these dolphins at sea. A vulnerable species, this dolphin faces threats from water pollution, coastal development, climate change, overfishing, and marine traffic disturbance. The species is labelled as endangered by IUCN.
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| Greater flamingos in the Rann of Kutch. Image credit: Dhaval Vargiya via Wikimedia Commons. |
Every monsoon, the Great and Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat experiences the pink wave. Yes, it is the gorgeous greater and lesser flamingos that paint the Rann with their beautiful colors. During the monsoon season, the desert there becomes a brackish water wetland where aquatic creatures like molluscs, algae, and plankton thrive. They are a rich nutrition source for the birds who arrive at the Great and Little Rann of Kutch in large flocks to feed and breed. They get their reddish-pink colour from the beta-carotene pigment present in their food (shrimp and algae). The greater flamingos are the largest flamingo species, distinguished from the lesser flamingos, which are the smallest flamingo species by both size and beak colour. The greater flamingos have pink beaks with brownish-black tips, while lesser flamingos possess brownish-crimson beaks.
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