Arunachal sits where the Himalaya meets the forests of Southeast Asia, and the wildlife reflects that overlap. Namdapha, in the far east, is the only park in India with four big cats on paper — tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard — though what you actually see is more likely hoolock gibbons, hornbills and the red panda's forest. Eaglenest and Pakke, closer to the Assam border, are among the best birding forests in the country, with mixed hunting flocks and the Bugun liocichla, a bird described new to science here in 2006.
This is walking-and-waiting wildlife viewing, not a game drive. Trails are on foot with local guides, days start before light, and sightings are earned. Accommodation ranges from forest rest houses to tented camps run with the neighbouring communities, several of whom have turned from hunting to guiding within a generation.
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