Assam floods: Kaziranga is experiencing the worst flood in a decade, with 174 animal losses so far.
Guwahati: The renowned Assamese park Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is currently experiencing its worst flood in a decade, which has already claimed the lives of 174 animals, including ten endangered one-horned rhinos.
Assam floods
The park recorded the maximum water level of 87.47 meters at Nimatighat in Jorhat district on June 1, surpassing the record of 87.27 meters recorded on August 12 in 2017, according to a status update on the flood situation from KNP director Sonali Ghosh. Low floods occurred in the 1,090 square kilometer park in 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023, according to Ghosh.
174 animals, including 10 one-horned rhinos, have died in the UNESCO World Heritage Site park so far. The park is known for being the largest home for one-horned rhinos worldwide.
With 153 recorded deaths from the flood, hog deer took the greatest toll. Two hog deer perished after being struck by cars on the highway that runs through the national park, but the majority of the animals perished in the floodwaters. The park recorded a maximum of 291 animal deaths in 2017, 24 of which were rhino fatalities.
Animals are also suffering extensively in the flood-affected Majuli district of #Assam. #HAI, through its @LOCAL_India_23 member @neadsjorhat is present on the ground to extend necessary support. #floods #displacement pic.twitter.com/QHdHFRjRk1
— Humanitarian Aid International (@humanaidint) July 6, 2024
But this time, the forest staff has already saved 135 animals. “Our forest personnel are really working very hard and in very tough situations to save the animals,” Ghosh stated to DH.
There are 2,600 one-horned rhinos in Kaziranga National Park, and many of them perish in the floods that occur there virtually every monsoon season. Conservationists argue that flooding is essential to maintaining the park’s ecology and the animal life cycle, despite growing concerns over animal deaths.
“In Assamese wildlife reserves like Kaziranga and a few others, several wild animals perish during floods. Although it may not look good, this is how survival of the fittest in the wild is determined by natural selection. Since annual floods invigorate the ecosystem in Kaziranga and other rhino-bearing areas along the Brahmaputra river, these floodplain ecosystems cannot support wild animals, including rhinos,” remarked Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, a wildlife biologist and CEO of Aranyak, an Assamese biodiversity conservation group.
Assam’s overall flood condition began to improve in the meantime. 13.99 lakh people were still impacted in 2,545 villages across 26 districts, according to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority’s daily flood report, which was released on Thursday night. According to the authorities, the floods have already claimed 83 lives this year.
