Chambal Gharial & Crocodile Viewing

The Chambal is one of the last clean, free-flowing rivers in northern India, and around Kota it is a genuine wildlife experience. A boat ride on the river, from the Chambal Garden area or the riverfront, gives you a real chance to see the critically endangered gharial, that slender, fish-eating crocodilian with its distinctive long snout, basking on the sandbanks alongside heavier mugger crocodiles.

The river also teems with turtles, and its banks and skies are alive with birds, kingfishers, cormorants, storks and, in season, migratory species drawn to the water. The gorges and ravines through which the Chambal flows are part of a protected sanctuary landscape that shelters this fragile ecosystem.

For nature lovers, this is one of the most special things to do among the tourist places in Kota, a quiet, low-impact encounter with wildlife you simply cannot see in most of India.

History of Chambal Gharial & Crocodile Viewing

The Chambal River, and stretches of it near Kota, form part of the National Chambal Sanctuary landscape established to protect the gharial, which had declined to the brink of extinction across its range.

Kota's position on the Chambal makes it a convenient base from which to experience this conservation success story, with the river's relatively unpolluted waters sustaining a rich aquatic ecosystem.

The gharial and mugger populations here are a point of regional pride and a focus of ongoing conservation work.

Highlights

• Endangered gharial on the sandbanks
• Mugger crocodiles and turtles
• Rich riverine birdlife
• Boat rides through Chambal scenery
• Part of a protected sanctuary landscape
• A rare wild encounter near the city