24 wild animals killed due to floods, vehicle hits in Assam's Kaziranga

More than 150 wild animals including 12 rhinos died during the flood last year

At least 24 wild animals including a prized one-horned rhino have died due to flood in Assam's Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and after being hit by vehicles on NH-37 passing through the Unesco World Heritage Site.

About 30% of the 1,302 sq km park is still inundated while 21 of its 223 forest camps remained under water on Monday.

According to a bulletin issued by KNP, six animals, one rhino, one wild buffalo, a swamp deer and three hog deers drowned in floodwater while 11 other wild animals including 11 hog deers were crushed under the wheels of vehicles on the highway stretch. The animals are often hit by vehicles while rushing to neighbouring Karbi Anglong hills on the south bank of the Brahmaputra in order to avoid the flood.

Four other animals, however, has been rescued by forest staff and other agencies during the flood that hit the park last week.

"Vehicle hits continues to be a concern for us. This year Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma issued a directive for diversion of heavy vehicles via highway on the North bank of the Brahmaputra for the Monsoon season. But still, some vehicles coming from Nagaland and some other areas are plying on the highway passing through Kaziranga," KNP director, P. Sivakumar told DH on Monday.

"The only solution is the elevated corridor on the stretch, which the government is planning," Sivakumar said.

Assam government is preparing project details for the construction of a 35-km long elevated corridor on the highway passing through Kaziranga.

Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage site, since 1985 and one of the major tourist attractions mainly due to its iconic one-one-horned rhino population (2,413 in 2018) is sandwiched between the river Brahmaputra and Karbi Anglong hills. As the Monsoon rain in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh hills raise the water level and inundate the park, animals are often seen rushing to Karbi Anglong hills to avoid floods.

More than 150 wild animals including 12 rhinos died similarly during the flood last year.

8 deaths, over 4 lakh still affected:

The human death toll in the current wave of flood reached eight on Monday while over 4.34 lakh people still remained affected in 12 of 35 districts. The daily flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority said 457 villages still remained affected in Barpeta, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup Metro, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts.