Assam Floods Leave Rhinos Exhausted, Sad Picture Shows Them Catching A Breath On Dry Land
Assam is battling the monsoon as the floods in the state have worsened with incessant rain swelling already raging rivers. Several villages have been flooded and especially the Kaziranga wildlife reserve is severely flooded with several animals trying to find a way out of it. According to KNP authorities 90 percent of the park is submerged in the floods posing a serious threat to the lives of especially small animals.
As the flood situation worsens in Assam, the plight of animals fighting the crisis is just heartbreaking. Assam is battling the monsoon as the floods in the state have worsened with incessant rain swelling already raging rivers.
Several villages have been flooded and especially the Kaziranga wildlife reserve is severely flooded, with several animals trying to find a way out of it. A recent picture taken by Reuters captures the plight of animals in the floods.
Exhausted Rhinos are seen resting on dry patches of land, probably tired by hours of wading through the currents.
Reuters
According to reports, as of Wednesday, 169 of the 199 forest camps have been inundated. A total of 52 animals have been rescued. These were mostly hog deer, a swamp deer and a sambar.
Kaziranga Park officials and teams from International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have been rescuing these distressed creatures in every way possible.
According to KNP authorities, 90 percent of the park is submerged in the floods and is posing a serious threat to the lives of especially small animals.
Field staff of Kaziranga are one of the sincerest and I am proud of working with him.#AssamFloods #Kaziranga #Floods #Rhino #Rescue #AssamForest #Conservation #GuardiansOfNature #Wildlife #KazirangaNationalPark pic.twitter.com/mjd5mrUilZ
¡ª Arun Vignesh C S, IFS (@arunvigneshcs) July 16, 2019
"The animals are having a tough time with a large number of rhinos, deer, elephants, trapped," MLA Mrinal Saikia told Reuters.
Around nine animals including three rhinos and an elephant have been confirmed dead in the park due to drowning. This is in addition to the nearly a dozen animals which were killed on the NH-37 while trying to flee the submerged Kaziranga.
More recently, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) posted updates of a Tiger that snuck into a someone's house to escape the flood waters. According to reports, the tiger was about to cross the highway when it appeared to change its mind and jumped into a scrap dealer¡¯s tin-roofed compound for shelter.
Our vet @samshulwildvet is on a mission to tranquilise this #tiger to get him out of bed! Anyone else see the irony? ? #AssamFlood #Kaziranga ?this thread is all abput good work done @vivek4wild@action4ifaw @VishalDadlani @deespeak @_AdilHussain @DevrajSanyal + pic.twitter.com/gCrwZtqzcc
¡ª Wildlife Trust India (@wti_org_india) July 18, 2019
¡°The owner was about to open the shop at 8:30 in the morning when he saw the tiger jump inside,¡± Bhaskar Choudhury, head veterinarian for the non-profit Wildlife Trust of India, told AFP.
Reports also state that a lot of the animals are finding a way to a higher ground, but the reach these places they are forced to cross highways and place they would never venture into in the past out of fear of poachers. But the flood situation has left these voiceless creatures with choice. Many run the risk of getting run over by speeding cars.
Hog deer are the worst hit as they are the ones who get on to roads, they also suffer from something called ¡®capture myopathy¡¯: if caught and handled inappropriately, they die.
The very survival of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve depends on the protection of its corridors along with NH 37 which connects the park with Karbi Anglong hills. Karbi hills are the natural highland for the animals of the Kaziranga National Park. (Video: Bitupan Kolong) pic.twitter.com/UeNG299LLP
¡ª Rohit Choudhury (@Rohitskaziranga) July 16, 2019
Some animals like Elephants can swim to escape, but not many are deft at it. Rhino calves get separated from their mothers while negotiating deep water and strong swirling currents.
The first of the releases of rescued animals #BackToTheWild and to safe higher ground gives immense joy. #AssamFloods #Kaziranga #wildliferescue many more coming! + pic.twitter.com/G4v5ex2AZx
¡ª Wildlife Trust India (@wti_org_india) July 14, 2019
In this dire situation Assam Forest Department, and local NGOs and Local communities are trained to deal with emergencies when it comes to helping animals and administer first aid.
