4 September 2020.

Introduction:

The Assam government has recently approved the addition of 30.53 sq. km ( 3,053 hectares) to the 884 sq. km Kaziranga National Park.

Highlights:

• Area is being added after 35 years.
• The government issued a notification approving the seventh, eighth, and ninth additions to the World Heritage Site.
• With these additions Kaziranga Park will be connected to Karbi Anglong hills and Nameri National Park in Sonitpur district.
• These include encroachment-evicted areas and wildlife habitat at riverine islands that were vulnerable to encroachment.

Advantages of expansion:

• This will give adequate space to the increasing animal population.
• These are habitats-cum-corridors and will help the surplus population in migration to the neighbouring habitats using these areas.
• The additions will ensure better corridor connectivity with Orang National Park, Nameri National Park, and Karbi Anglong and reduce the fragmentation of habitat.
• Major issues like the inbreeding of tigers could be controlled.
• Help fine tune patrolling by setting up of more forest camps.
• Will help control poaching.
•  The addition of new areas to the park is expected to ensure the better protection of animals.

About Orang National Park:

• Orang National park is the oldest game reserve of the State just on the northern bank of river Brahmaputra with an area of 78.80 sq. kms and it is an important breeding ground for varieties of Fishes.
• It is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam, India.
• It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a National Park on 13 April 1999.
• It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN site) since the two parks have a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams and grasslands and are inhabited by the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros.
• The park has a rich flora and fauna, including Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, pigmy hog, elephants, wild buffalo and tigers. It is the only stronghold of rhinoceros on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river.

About Nameri National Park:

• Nameri National Park is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, India, about 40 kilometres from Tezpur and the third national park in Assam.
• The Pakhui (Pakke) Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh adjoins the Park on its North-Eastern point. Together they constitute an area of over 1000 km ² of semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests with cane and bamboo brakes and narrow strips of open grassland along rivers. Nameri is a birder’s paradise with over 300 species of birds.
• The area is criss-crossed by the river Jia- Bhoroli and its tributaries namely the Diji, Dinai, Doigurung, Nameri, Dikorai, Khari etc.
• A few jheels (during the rainy seasons) also dot the area. The inaccessibility and continuity with the neibouring forest areas have helped the wildlife of Nameri to flourish.
• There is a good prey base in the form of Sambar, Barking deer, Hog Deer, Wild Boar and Gaur.
•  About 3000 domestic cattle also form part of this prey base for Tiger and Leopards.
• Nameri and Sonai-Rupai are only Protected Areas in the North Bank of the Brahmaputra in the Civil District of Sonitpur.