Assam floods: Kaziranga facing worst deluge in decade, 174 animal deaths so far

Guwahati: The famous Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in Assam is facing its worst flood in the past one decade that has already led to the death of 174 animals including 10 prized one-horned rhinos.

In a status report of the flood situation, KNP director Sonali Ghosh said the park recorded the highest water level of 87.47 meters at Nimatighat in Jorhat district on June 1, which surpassed the record of 87.27 meters registered on August 12 in 2017. The 1,090 square kilometer park had low flood in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023, Ghosh said.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site park, which boasts the credit of being the biggest habitat for the one-horned rhinos in the world, however, has witnessed the death of 174 animals so far including 10 one-horned rhinos.

The hog deers bore the maximum brunt with 153 deaths already reported due to the flood. Most of the hog deers drowned in the flood water while two died after being hit by vehicles on the highway passing through the national park. In 2017, the park had reported maximum animal deaths of 291 that included casualties of 24 rhinos.

The forest personnel, this time, however, has rescued 135 animals so far. "Our forest personnel are really working very hard and in very tough situations to save the animals," Ghosh told DH. 

The Kaziranga has 2,600 one-horned rhinos and many die due to the flood that hits the national park almost every Monsoon. The death of the animals have become a worry but conservationists say that flooding is necessary to keep the park's ecology and the animal life cycle going. 

Deer cross a National Highway near the flood-affected Kaziranga National Park, in Nagaon district. 

"A few wild animals die during floods in Kaziranga and some other wildlife parks in Assam. This may look bad, but this is the natural selection process of survival of the fittest in the wild. Without annual floods, these floodplain ecosystem won't be able to sustain wild animals, including rhinos as it energises the ecosystem in Kaziranga or any other rhino bearing areas along the Brahmaputra river," wildlife biologist and CEO of Aranyak, a biodiversity conservation group in Assam, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, said.    

Meanwhile, the overall flood situation in Assam started improving. The daily flood bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority on Thursday evening said 13.99 lakh people still remained affected in 2,545 villages in 26 districts. The state reported 83 deaths due to the floods this year so far.