The Floods Are Devastating, But Without It, Kaziranga Ecosystem Won't Flourish

The Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is currently reeling under a devastating flood, that has inundated more than 90 per cent of its area.

The floods this year have killed 116 animals so far, including 11 rhinos, 88 hog deer, seven wild boars, four wild buffaloes, two swamp deer, two porcupines and one sambar and one python.

AP

While most of the animals drowned in the floodwaters, many were also killed by vehicles while they were trying to find safer grounds in the highlands.

A total of 143 animals, including 110 were hog deer, four tigers, two rhinos, 17 pythons, and three turtles have been rescued and most of them have been released back to their natural habitat.

AFP

Big floods, a matter of concern

"The frequency of big floods has increased. It is a cause of concern. We have rescued about 57 animals, of which 37 animals have been treated and released," Dr. Rathin Barman, the Joint Director, Rescue Centre, Kaziranga National Park said.

Though it may appear like the situation is terrible in the UNESCO World Heritage site, which is home to the critically endangered one-horned rhinos, the reality is that annual floods are common in Kaziranga and last year, floods had claimed nearly 200 animals in the park, including 18 rhinos.

AP

The deaths of rhinos and other endangered animals like tigers are definitely a loss but without the annual floods, the Kaziranga ecosystem would not survive.

Kaziranga is a floodplain and has four main rivers Brahmaputra, Diphlu, Mora Diphlu and Mora Dhansiri and has numerous small water bodies that keep the ecosystem as it is Kaziranga's landscape is the creation of natural forces of silt deposition and erosion that has been affected by the river Brahmaputra over hundreds of years. This ongoing process of erosion and deposition becomes more severe during the floods.

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What the flood does

The floodwaters help in maintaining the vegetation status and arresting the process of plant succession in grasslands and also affect soil formation and improve soil fertility as the flood water leaves behind alluvial deposits which are essential for the growth of plants and grasses.

Another important role the floods paly is in the replenishment of water bodies that dry up during winter months.

The floods are also key for the breeding of several fish species that comes to the area to lay eggs.

AP

According to environmentalists and KNP officials, up to 60 percent of the protected area gets flooded every year in the floods and that is crucial for the ecosystem. But in the past few years, the intensity of the floods has increased much and over 90 percent of the land is getting inundated every year, which is causing the high number of animal deaths.

Recently, the central government had cleared a proposal to construct 32-km artificial highland inside the Kaziranga to shelter animals from the flood.

AFP

However, environmentalists have long opposed the idea of artificial highlands inside Kaziranga and argue that it will do more harm to the ecology in the long run than good as the artificial highlands in a floodplain ecosystem will alter the natural course.