The famous Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch

We had wanted to visit this sanctuary since last 15 years but managed it only just now!! Its because its not really in Kutch - its off centre for a Kutch trip. So, on our Dholavira trip,  we returned via Sayla which is 90 minutes away from the sanctuary. 

the Forest Office for the tickets is in a bungalow off a lane in Bajana. The rates in Gujerati are pasted on the wall along with the guides list. its mandatory to have a guide as the average person will get lost in the vast expanse of the sanctuary.  Formalities are fast and as we had arrived mid morning rather than early morning, there was no queue and the guide was available. 

The guides must be of varying quality. our chap Mr Malek was dumb. The guides are given  a training of 10-15 days and then let loose with various bird and animal books for identification!! 

our guide's knowledge was BASIC. He did not speak unless asked and I had to tell him he was in the wrong profession if he could not tell us any details of the area or the species. 
He could tell the driver the route to take but he was totally vague on the bird species and on the various fauna and flora. 
So, if you take a guide, check him out first before going into the sanctuary.
We paid Rs 100 officially as the guide fee +a tip of Rs 100, so a total of Rs 200 for 2 hours work. Is this motivation enough for a guide? Its a thought to worry about. 

The first view in the sanctuary is of this vast expanse of parched dried land which has a whitish colour on it - this is the salt which comes up when the water has dried. After progressing a few kms, we came across this water body which had many birds on it. 

i have purposely attached parts of the Govt leaflet so that readers get an idea of the whole sanctuary and see whats available there. 

this is the sort of dried parched soil everywhere 

the first sight of the Wild Ass was this single magnificent specimen. He was alone. More horse than donkey. His brown coat had a beautiful soft colour to it. 

Surprisingly, we came across three groups of wild ass in pairs. 

The herd is highly disciplines and extremely alert. Whilst foraging, they keep an eye open for the unusual and promptly move off if they felt endangered. One herd went into a gallop as two cars were after them, we were lucky as they came close to us and we were sitting quietly in the car. 

This herd decided to go single file and then stopped watching us if we were going to cross their path. We just waited, so the leader eventually just turned around and went back. 

our final sight of the magnificent young birds as they cross to the water

Do go and visit this animal sanctuary as the Wild Ass and bird life are quite prolific. Its a great experience. 





















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