Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve
Kaziranga National park's 430 square kilometer area sprinkled with elephant-
grass meadows, swampy lagoons, and dense forests is home to more than
2200 Indian one-horned rhinoceros, approximately 2/3rd of their total world
population. It is situated in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state
of Assam, India. Kaziranga is home to the highest density of tigers
among protected areas in the world, and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.
The history of Kaziranga as a protected area can be traced back to 1904,

when Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston, the wife of the Viceroy of
India, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, visited the area. After failing to see a single
rhinoceros, for which the area was renowned, she persuaded her husband to
take urgent measures to protect the dwindling species which he did by initiating
planning for their protection.[5] On 1 June 1905, the Kaziranga Proposed
Reserve Forest was created with an area of 232 km2. The Kaziranga National
Park was established in the year 1908.
In 1985, Kaziranga was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its
unique natural environment.
Kaziranga contains significant breeding populations of 35 mammalian species,

of which 15 are threatened as per the IUCN Red List (International Union for
Conservation of Nature). The park has the distinction of being home to the
world's largest population of the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros
(1,855),Wild Asiatic Water Buffalo (1,666) and Eastern Swamp Deer (468).
Significant populations of large herbivores include elephants (1,940), gaur (30)
and sambar (58). Small herbivores include the Indian Muntjac, wild boar, and
hog deer.
1|Page
The One-Horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger, Asian elephant, wild water
buffalo and swamp deer are collectively known as 'Big Five' of Kaziranga.
Kaziranga has one tiger for each five km2 of park area, the highest
tiger density in the world.
Also, the park is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International

for the conservation of avifaunal species. Birds like lesser white-fronted goose,
ferruginous duck, Baer's pochard duck and lesser adjutant, greater adjutant,
black-necked stork, and Asian Openbill stork specially migrate from the Central
Asia during the winter season.
According to the census held in March 2018 which was jointly conducted by the
Forest Department of the Government of Assam and some recognized wildlife
NGOs, the rhino population in Kaziranga National Park is 2,413. It comprises
1,641 adult rhinos, 387 sub-adults and 385 calves.
Kaziranga's rivers are also home to the endangered Ganges dolphin.
Two of the largest snakes in the world, the reticulated python and rock python,
as well as the longest venomous snake in the world, the king cobra, inhabit the
park.
2|Page
Conservation Efforts
Kaziranga National Park has been granted maximum protection under the
Indian law for wildlife conservation. Various laws, which range in dates from
the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 and the Biodiversity Conservation
Act of 2002 have been enacted for protection of wildlife in the park. Poaching
activities, particularly of the rhinoceroses for its horn, has been a major concern
for the authorities. Between 1980 and 2005, 567 rhinoceroses were hunted by
poachers. Following a decreasing trend for the past few years, 18 one-horned
rhinoceroses were killed by poachers in 2007.
Perennial flooding and heavy rains have resulted in death of wild animals and
damage to the conservation infrastructures.[13] To escape the water-logged
areas, many animals migrate to elevated regions outside the park boundaries
where they are susceptible to hunting, hit by speeding vehicles, or subject to
reprisals by villagers for damaging their crops.[citation needed]
To mitigate the
losses, the authorities have increased patrols, purchased additional speedboats
for patrol, and created artificial highlands for shelter.[citation needed]
Several
corridors have been set up for the safe passage of animals across National
Highway–37 which skirts around the southern boundary of the park.[45]
Preventive measures such as construction of anti-poaching camps and

maintenance of existing ones, patrolling, intelligence gathering, and control over
the use of firearms around the park have reduced the number of
casualties. Since 2013, the park used cameras on drones which are monitored
by security guards to protect the rhino from armed poachers
The Kaziranga National park also comes under the initiative of the Project Tiger
in order to safeguard the tiger population in the Tiger Reserve.
3|Page
INDIAN RHINO VISION 2020
Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India, holds about 70% of the world
population. This is worrisome for two reasons – the park may have reached its
carrying capacity and might not be able to support any more rhinos; and the
entire species’ population could decimated because by a disease outbreak,
natural disaster, or another acute threat.
Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is a partnership among the

Government of Assam, the International Rhino Foundation, and the World Wide
Fund for Nature, the Bodoland Territorial Council, and the U.S. Fish & World
Wildlife foundation that aims to attain a population of 3,000 wild greater one-
horned rhinos in seven of Assam’s protected areas by the year 2020. Its main
initiatives include:
 Improving the protection and security of rhinos in all rhino areas in Assam.
 Expanding the distribution of rhinos over seven protected areas to reduce
the risks associated with having a whole population in one area.
 Translocating rhinos from two source populations (Kaziranga and
Pabitora) into five target protected areas (Orang national park, Manas
national park, Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary, Burachapori wildlife sanctuary
and Dibru Saikhowa wildlife sanctuary.)
The project took a big leap with the translocation of two rhinos from the
Kaziranga National Park to the Burachopari Wildlife Sanctuary on 29 March
2016.
4|Page
The first successful attempt to move rhinos out of Assam and re-introduce them
into a similar habitat was made in 1984 in Uttar Pradesh’s Dudhwa national
park, which has 33 rhinos today.
5|Page
BIG FIVE of Kaziranga:

 Asian Elephant
 One-Horned
Rhinoceros
 Swamp Deer
 Wild Water Buffalo
 Royal Bengal Tiger
6|Page
7|Page
8|Page
9|Page
https://www.wikipedia.org
https://www.kaziranga-national-park.com
http://www.kaziranganationalpark-india.com
http://www.kaziranga.co.in
https://www.kaziranganationalpark.com
https://rhinos.org
https://www.thehindu.com
https://www.gktoday.in
https://www.wwfindia.org
10 | P a g e

Kaziranga National Park

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kaziranga National Park

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kaziranga National Park

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve

The history of Kaziranga as a protected area can be traced back to 1904,

Kaziranga contains significant breeding populations of 35 mammalian species,

Also, the park is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International

Kaziranga's rivers are also home to the endangered Ganges dolphin.

Preventive measures such as construction of anti-poaching camps and

Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is a partnership among the

BIG FIVE of Kaziranga:

You might also like