By Michael Shylla
There is no doubt Assam is a proud state for hosting two-third of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses and the majority of those species are found in Kaziranga, Pobitora and Orang national parks.
According to the census of March 2018 carried out by the Government of Assam and some wildlife NGOs, the rhino population in the Kaziranga National Park is 2,413. It comprises 1,641 adult rhinoceroses (642 males, 793 females and 206 unsexed).
Kaziranga is also the home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas of the world and was declared a tiger reserve in 2006 (now the highest density is in the Orang National Park). The park is home to a large breeding population of elephants, wild water buffaloes and swamp deer. It is interesting to note that wild water buffaloes stand at 5 to 6.2 feet tall at the shoulder. These are formidable mammals with sparse grey-black coats. Males carry enormous backward curving, crescent-shaped horns stretching close to 5-foot long with deep ridges on the surface.
The swamp deer is also called the Barasingha deer. It is a vulnerable species. At present, they are facing extinction due to the destruction of their habitat because of deforestation, draining of swamps and marshes for farming, poaching for its horns and diseases transmitted by domestic cattle.
Another attraction is the new breeding of the Royal Bengal Monitor Lizard. Their common name is Monitor Lizard or Indian Monitor. Their length varies from 5 to 6 feet. As these are poisonous it is always safe to look at them from a distance.
During the flood havoc of 2017 in the Brahmaputra Valley, more than 100 wildlife animals were killed and many among them were rhinoceroses. Rare species of rhinos, apart from other animals, have fled in hundreds to nearby areas to escape the floods of the Brahmaputra. According to officials, poachers wait for such situations to trap animals when they come out of their habitats to higher grounds for shelter. The most affected is the Kaziranga National Park.
The workers at the Pobitora National Park explained that they don’t have good boats to undertake rescue operations during floods. Also, researchers have found undesirable growth of a plant species by the name of Parthenium, locally known as ‘congress grass’, tending to spread very quickly in the grassland inside the Pobitora National Park. This weed is highly invasive with a history of damaging the local ecosystem and definitely harmful for grazing of animals.
The need of the hour for the authorities is to upgrade and strengthen its management procedures that can tackle such kind of difficulties during natural calamities and leave no room for error in planning. The delays in late planning result in serious mistakes which cannot be compromised at the cost of wild animals and plants as well as human lives. The Government of India from time to time has provided financial assistance to the state (for relief work, rehabilitation, etc) during floods in the Brahmaputra Valley. In this regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last visit to the state (August 1, 2017) had reviewed the damage cost by the floods in the Brahmaputra Valley and announced Rs 2,000-crore relief package. The floods have also led to the death of 91 animals at the Kaziranga National Park and at least 79 people have died during the crisis.
Wildlife consists of flora and fauna, that is animals, plants and micro-organisms which are not domesticated by humans. On the other hand, conservation is preserving and protecting wild plants, animals and their habitats. Therefore, we can say that the conservation of wildlife is necessary to recognise the importance of nature and other wildlife species.
(The author is former director of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Photo division)