107 Animals, Including 7 Rhinos Dead So Far, As Half Of Kaziranga Drowns Under Massive Floods

Nature's beauty is under threat of destruction due to nature's own relentless fury.?

The situation turned grim at the Kaziranga National Park on Saturday when vast swathes of the World Heritage Site went under water. Park officials said nearly 50% of the sanctuary's 430-sq-km area is inundated. With the Brahmaputra on the northern fringe of the park in spate, Kaziranga officials feared, newer areas could get flooded.

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Kaziranga divisional forest officer Rohini Ballab Saikia said 89 of 188 permanent and makeshift anti-poaching camps were inundated. Nearly 26 camps were submerged on the eastern range, they said.

"Animals are fleeing the park in large numbers for the safety of highlands in neighbouring Karbi Anglong district. Our field staff are closely monitoring the movement of the animals," Saikia said.

Elephants and rhinos have already started migrating to Karbi Anglong by crossing NH-37. A stretch of about 66 km of the national highway passes along the southern boundary of Kaziranga. Park officials said the intensity of the flood is likely to increase as the water level of the Brahmaputra showed a rising trend on Saturday.

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"The water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries is rising at Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Dibrugarh, Nematighat, Dhansirimukh and Tezpur. As Kaziranga is on the downstream, we are anticipating more water to enter the park in the next couple of days," another official said.

In last month's floods, at least 107 animals, including seven rhinos, perished. Of the total casualty, about 13 animals were killed in vehicle-hit while crossing the highway. An infrastructure damage to the tune of Rs 7.35 crore was suffered by the park in the July floods.