Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park

Fourteen and a half square kilometres of open grassland on the southeastern edge of the city. The Nizams hunted here, and since 1975 it has been protected as a blackbuck reserve. Around four hundred of the spiral-horned antelope live on it, along with spotted deer, porcupines and peafowl, and none of them stand behind glass: this is savanna, and the animals are where they choose to be. Safari vans run daily, roughly 9:30 to 17:30, entry about Rs 40 with the safari around Rs 140. Winter mornings give the clearest sightings, and it stays far emptier than the zoo.

Safari vans over old hunting plains, and far emptier than the zoo