East India is dominated by the state of West Bengal. The northern part of the state is an extension of northeast India and shares much of the rich bird and mammal life of that region in superb montane and sub-Himalayan forests. Singalila National Park, which touches the Indo-Nepal border, is renowned as perhaps the best site in India to see the delightful but secretive Red Panda, while some of the region’s most sought-after birds or those more usually associated with Bhutan, such as Rusty-bellied Shortwing and Satyr Tragopan, can be easier to see here. Further south, the hills give way to the plains, which dissolve into the vast delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers which spreads fan-like into Bangladesh. The unique environment of Sundarbans National Park, a mix of waterways, mudflats and extensive mangroves is home to some interesting wildlife including Masked Finfoot, Brown-winged Kingfisher and Mangrove Pitta, and is perhaps the most incongruous setting to find Tiger, alongside Estuarine Crocodile and Irrawaddy Dolphin.

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We also include here the Himalayan state of Sikkim, now officially part of northeast India but which adjoins northern West Bengal, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are more usually combined with, and therefore included as part of South India.