About Jawai

Jawai sits in the Pali district of Rajasthan — a landscape of weathered granite kopjes rising from flat scrub, dotted with Rabari shepherding villages and the glistening Jawai Bandh reservoir.

Around 70 wild Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) call these hills home. Unlike protected forest reserves, Jawai is a community-conservation zone — the cats live alongside herders, children and temples, revered as sacred.

What to expect

• Open 4x4 jeep safaris at sunrise and sunset — the best leopard activity windows.
• Granite caves and perches where leopards doze through the heat.
• Over 150 bird species including flamingos on Jawai Dam in winter.
• Crocodiles along the shoreline and nilgai across the plains.

When to visit

October to March — cool days, dry evenings, best sightings. Monsoon (July–September) is lush but muddy.