22 animals perish in floods in Kaziranga National Park

Divisional Forest Officer Dibyodhar Gogoi told PTI today the third wave of the deluge has submerged 75 per cent of rhino habitat in KNP and claimed the lives of four Great Indian Rhinoceros, 14 hog deers, three wild boars and one Sambar deer.

Four other animals were killed in accidents on NH 37 by the side of the Park when they tried to escape from the flooded KNP, Gogoi said.

Poachers killed a rhino, whose horn-less carcass was found in the flooded park today, while another that had strayed out to neighbouring Karbi Anglong district was shot at and its horn sawed off this morning.

Nine animals have been rescued so far from the flooded park and put under the care of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) veterinarians, forest department sources added.

CWRC wildlife rescue team is on high alert apprehending another wave of flood in the park as incessant rains over the past week has caused the water levels in rivers to rise above the danger mark in many parts of the state.

Park authorities and anti-poaching camps personnel are also on high alert to contain casualties, KNP sources said, adding that personnel in 25 of the 126 flood affected camps were moved to higher ground.

The situation inside the park was critical as the flood water level is rising in its western parts, which is adjacent to the swollen Brahmaputra, its director Sanjev Bora said. Flood water is, however, receding in the eastern range.

Emergency helplines have been opened for information on distressed wildlife, the park authorities said.