Rhinos and buffaloes are seen in the flooded Kaziranga National Park in Assam's Nagaon district. (Reuters phot... Read More

GUWAHATI: A week-long flood in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has left altogether 117 animals dead till Wednesday. Animal casualty in Kaziranga since last month’s flood has crossed 200.

From August 10 to August 16 when Kaziranga came under the grip of second wave of flood, 99 Hog deer, six rhinos, two elephants, three wild boar, two swamp deer, one each Asiatic buffalo , Sambar and porcupine were drowned. Two Hog deer were killed in vehicle hit while crossing the national highway 37 for reaching highlands in neighbouring Karbi Anglong . Also two Hog deer succumbed to injuries.

“We could also rescue 48 different animals including five rhino calves and 41 Hog deer during the week-long flood,” a senior Park official said. Flood situation in the World Heritage Site, about 250 KM from here, has significantly improved on Wednesday with inundated area coming down to 59 % of Kaziranga’s 430 Sq KM. Park officials said that flood levels have dropped by 15 cm on Wednesday. 105 anti-poaching camps out of 178 are still under water.

Kaziranga, located on the flood plains of Brahmaputra, experienced one of the worst deluges in three decades on Sunday, when over 80% of the Park area was inundated and water levels rose to six feet at several places.

“As water levels are dropping there are chances of more animal carcasses surfacing up. Still large swathe of the Park is only accessible on boats. Our field staff is constantly monitoring the situation both within and outside the Park. Large number of animals are still taking shelter on highlands of Karbi Anglong,” the official added.

In last month’s flood in Kaziranga, at least 107 animals including seven rhinos perished. Of the total casualty, about 13 animals were killed in vehicle hit while crossing the highway when large swathe of Kaziranga was under water last month.

Home to a large population of Big Five (rhinos, elephants, tigers, wild buffalos and Eastern swamp deer), Kaziranga suffered an infrastructure damage worth Rs 7.35 crore in last month’s flood.

