As the floodwater rises in Assam’s famed Kaziranga National Park (KNP), the animals are slowly being deprived of higher ground.
Nearly 75% of Kaziranga, a World Heritage Site, has been inundated, leading to the drowning of two female hog deer and one male swamp deer in the northern range of the park on Wednesday.
According to the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, the animals, including rhinos, have been forced to take shelter at the highlands and at the Karbi Anglong hills across National Highway 37, which passes through the park.
The mighty Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have submerged 2,500 villages, destroyed 1.06 lakh hectares of crop-land, damaged infrastructure by breaching the embankments and overrunning roads and bridges, thereby disrupting surface communication, said the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with the authorities and police, have so far rescued 7,814 people, who were marooned in 16 districts, the ASDMA bulletin said.
(Text by PTI)
A forest official watches a One-Horned Rhino wade through flooded water in Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga. As of July 12, 2017, the national reserve was about 75% under water, leaving some animals dead and forcing some to move to nearby higher lands, reported PTI
A forest guard walks past a riding point submerged in flooded Kaziranga. Authorities are patrolling for poachers as rhinoceros, deer and buffalo move to higher ground to escape floods inundating an Indian preserve.
People look on as a wild elephant crosses a road near the flood affected Kaziranga National Park. Animals have begun to migrate towards the Karbi Anglong Hills crossing the National Highway-37.
Hog dear swim to cross flood waters in. According to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), nine hog deer were rescued from the Park on July 11, out of which three were released back into the wild.
Members of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), team rescue a hog deer from a house at Methoni Tea Estate market place at the flooded Kaziranga in Assam on Tuesday.
Indian one-horn rhinoceros take shelter flood waters on higher land at Kaziranga. Currently, the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, along with Dibrugarh, Goalpara and Dhubri towns.
Indian forest officials talk with forest guards at a flooded anti-poaching camp in Kaziranga. The park authorities have flown in drones to ensure security of animals in the park, particularly the famed one-horned rhinoceros.
Authorities are running 208 relief camps and distribution centres in 16 districts, where 48,483 people are currently taking shelter. Across the state, 8,82,315 animals and poultry have been affected by the flood waters.
The annual floods assume significance for the ecology of the national park. Although it causes woes for the animals, the park needs to be flooded every year as floods wash away the unwanted weeds and it is very vital for the ecosystem of the park, experts tell IANS.
Published - July 12, 2017 08:39 pm IST
