Over 140 animals, including seven rhinos, died at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam in the second wave of the floods in the state, PTI reported on Friday.
Kaziranga Divisional Forest Officer Rohini Ballav Saikia on Thursday said seven rhinos, 122 swamp deer, two elephants, three wild boars, two hog deer, three sambhar deer, one buffalo and one porcupine had died since August 10. “Carcasses are being recovered daily,” he added.
Six of the seven rhinos drowned, and one died of natural causes. Saikia said water from the overflowing Brahmaputra river had entered the national park through the Difloo river on August 10.
The forest officer added that Kaziranga guards, a task force, protection force, volunteers from NGOs, the Wildlife Trust of India and Forest Department employees were patrolling the national park to rescue the animals trapped or recover the bodies of those that died. They are assessing the situation, Saikia said.
Animals at Kaziranga are moving in search of food on both sides of NH-37 and the adjacent tea gardens towards higher ground in the Karbi Anglong district, he said. Forest Department and other security personnel are fixing hoardings, posters and banners along the national highway to restrict the speed limit of vehicles on the highway passing through the park between 20 to 40 km per hour.
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