Assam Floods: 108 animals die in Kaziranga National Park.

20 July 2020.

Assam floods take a toll on inhabitants of Kaziranga National Park!

Introduction:

According to announcement made by the State Govt. of Assam, as many as 108 animals have died in the Kaziranga National Park in the recent floods.

Highlights:

  • According to a bulletin issued by park authorities nearly 85% area of the park, spread over 430 sq km is under water at present.
  • Forty three of the 223 forest camps inside the park are inundated of which 6 have been vacated.
  • Till now, 60 animals (36 hog deer, eight rhinos, three wild buffalo, one python, seven wild boar, two swamp deer, one Sambar and two porcupines) have died due to drowning.
  • Fifteen hog deer have died after getting hit by vehicles on national highway 37 close to the park, while trying to cross it to escape flood waters.

 Relief Measures:

  • PM Modi has sanctioned Rs 2 lakh to the next kin of persons who lost their lives in the floods from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
  • The State Govt is providing Rs. 4 lakh to the next of kin flood victims.
  • In total,134 animals have been rescued. Of them, 110 have been released into the wild, while 8 others including a one-year-old female rhino calf are under treatment at CWRC.- Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation.

About Kaziranga National Park :

  • Kaziranga National Park is a protected area in the northeast Indian state of Assam.
  • It is spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River, its forests, wetlands and grasslands are home to tigers, elephants and the world’s largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses.
  •  Ganges River dolphins swim in the park’s waters.
  • It’s visited by many rare migratory birds, and gray pelicans roost near Kaziranga village.
  • It was established in 1905 as a reserved forest.
  • In 1950, it was renamed as  Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • In 1974, it was declared as a National Park.
  • In 1985, the UNESCO declared the park as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • In 2006  it was declared as Tiger Reserve.

About One Horned Rhino:

  • The one-horned rhino is the largest of the three Asian Rhinos- the Sumatran and Javan Rhinos.
  • India has entered into collaboration with four countries to protect Asian Rhinos and these are Nepal, Bhutan,Indonesia and  Malaysia.
  • The New Delhi Declarartion on Asian Rhinos 2019 was signed by these countries to conserve rhinos.
  • A Special Rhino Protection Force was set up  in 2015 to control poaching of rhinos

Posted by

Author and Educator

Leave a Reply