Wild Ass

The real reason we headed up to Ahmedabad over Diwali break was that it was the closest point we could get to in our trip out to the Little Rann of Kutch. "The Little Rann?" I can hear you question. It's a dry, cracked, almost barren desert that is home to India's Wild Ass Sanctuary. Taking up almost 5,000 square kilometers of the state of Gujurat, in the middle of the salt flats, lies the protected area for close to 3,000 Indian wild ass. India has done a remarkable job conserving space for this species which used to roam from western India, into Pakistan, Afghanistan all the way to Iran. Now the ass have a restricted area where they are safe to kick up their heels, graze in peace and provide a fair amount of entertainment for tourists on safari. Of course there continue to be threats to the wildlife, with poachers encroaching on the protected land and an increase in salt farms flooding land that was grazing areas. For now though, the wild ass are prospering along with the myriad of other animals to be found in the desert - nilgais, hawks and other birds which stop at the wetlands during their migration (including flamingos!). It was an unexpected safari of a variety of animals in the middle of the desolate Little Rann.