Guwahati : Nature lovers have started flocking to Assam’s two principal habitat of one -horned rhinoceros , Kaziranga National Park and Pabitora Wildlife sanctuary which have been thrown open for tourists for this winter.
In view of the unprecedented rush of tourists from both abroad and within the country to Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Park authority and tourists officials have found it tough to accommodate visitors in available rooms in government lodges and guest houses in the national park.
In the spirit of ‘make hay when the sun shines’, fares for elephant safari and jeep safari have been hiked steeply in the KNP for tourists. The increased rates for jeep safari for Kohora Range of the Park is Rs 1500, while the rate is Rs 1600 , Rs 2500 and Rs 2000 for Bagori, Burapahar and Agoratoli ranges, according to an official in Kaziranga Jeep Safari association. One jeep safari can accommodate six visitors accompanied by one forest guard.
The rate for elephant rides in Kaziranga Park has been increased by Rs 50 per head for Indian tourists and by Rs 525 per head for foreign tourists.
State forest minister Rakibul Hussain have declared both Kaziranga and Pabitora parks opened for visitors in presence of a large number of foreign and domestic tourists.
Located just about 45 kilometers away from the heart of Guwahati city, Pabitora Wildlife
Sanctuary is known to have the highest density of great Indian one-horned rhinoceros.
In the sanctuary that rhino population has gone up from 54 in 1987 to 93 in 2012. Pobitora recorded zero poaching from 2007-10 with only one rhino falling prey to poachers last year and one so far this year. The tourist inflow to the sanctuary has increased from 8993 in 2006-07 to 18779 in 2011-12.
Pobitora Park having an area of 38.81 sq.km was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1998 and brought under Guwahati Wildlife Division in 2006.
Besides the one-horned rhinoceros, both Kaziranga and Pabitora parks received numerous varieties of migratory birds on large numbers which visit wetlands inside the wildlife protection areas to feast on the aquatic species including varieties of fishes. As per the rhino census carried out in March this year in Kaziranga National Park, it was found that the number of one-horned rhinos in the Park increased to 2329 compared to the figure of 2290 as per last year’s (2012) census.