It's official - I've added leopard spotting to my rather odd list of talents. Not so strange you might think - given that we're living in Rajasthan, the land where big cats surely just roam the streets. We all know that tiger numbers are alarmingly low in India - somewhere around the 1400 mark, which may sound a lot - but it isn't. We've heard stories of Sariska with its failing breeding programme, tourists disappointed with a lack of tiger on their tiger safari and perhaps most bizarrely, importing cheetahs from Syria to live in Jaisalmer. Of all places. But the humble leopard seems to have slipped off the radar, perhaps because it's so shy and retiring - or simply that their PR company isn't up to the job. Well, at Wire we've completely fallen in love with this underrated and under-represented species and have decided to do something about it. With a little help our course.

Elephants have been a common sight in Rajasthan for hundreds years - they carried the Maharajahs to their palaces and forts, were used in warfare and also as working animals. Even today more than a hundred elephants still work on a daily basis in Jaipur, ferrying tourists up the steep climb to the Amber Fort. But with ever-increasing temperatures in the region, there has been some vocal criticism concerning the welfare of these gentle giants.