At least 179 animals have died in the current wave of floods. Currently, 46% of the park is under water

GUWAHATI: With the water level receding at the Kaziranga National Park , more animal carcasses surfaced taking the death toll to 179 on Thursday. Since last month’s floods, the death toll increased to 286. At least 107 animals, including seven rhinos, perished in the water. Of the 179 animal deaths, which included nine rhinos, the majority were killed in drowning when the Brahmaputra was in spate last week and had inundated large swathes of land. Hog deer, one of the smallest deer species, suffered the highest casualty with 153 of them drowned in the surging waters of the river in the northern fringe of the park that inundated over 80% of Kaziranga’s 430 sq km area last week. It was one of the worst floods Kaziranga experienced in three decades. Water levels rose to six feet at several places inside the the sanctuary last week.

Other casualties due to drowning were three elephants, four each sambar and wild boar , two eastern swamp deer and one each Asiatic water buffalo and porcupine. Forest guard Kul Bahadur Chetri was critically injured by a rhino during a routine patrolling duty at Panbari on Thursday.

Kaziranga divisional forest officer Rohini Ballav Saikia said that Chetri, who hails from Dhekiajuli area of Sonitpur district , was rushed to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital here. “Chetri was attacked while he was patrolling. He has been shifted from the Jorhat Medical College to GMCH as his condition turned critical,” Saikia said. Currently, 46% of the park area is under water and flood levels dropped by 10 cm on Thursday. About 81 anti-poaching camps out of 178 are still submerged.

