Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday shared a video of a rhino calf stranded in Kaziranga National Park to highlight the extent of the floods caused by days of heavy rainfall.
In a post on X, Sarma wrote, “Recently, while passing through Kaziranga, I noticed this stranded rhino calf and instructed its immediate rescue.
The Assam floods have affected humans and animals alike and Team Assam is working round the clock to aid everyone.”
The national park is experiencing the worst deluge in recent years, as around 131 wild animals have died so far. Around 100 others have been rescued. In 2017, 305 animals perished due to flood waters and vehicle collisions while migrating through animal corridors to the highlands.
The NH-715 is a corridor for the animals to cross over to the hills of Karbi Anglong.
The dead animals include six rhinos, 117 hog deer, of which 98 drowned and two were hit by vehicles. Two sambar deer, a rhesus macaque and an otter drowned in the park as well.
A total of 25 animals have died during treatment.
The forest officials rescued 85 hog deer, and two each of rhinos, sambar deer and scops owl. The rescued animals also include one each of swamp deer, Indian hare, rhesus macaque, otter, elephant and a jungle cat.
Around 25 animals are under medical care, while 52 others were released after treatment.
Of the 233 camps in the Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, 69 were still inundated till Friday evening.
Forest department employees, including security personnel, camp in the national park to patrol for the protection of the flora and fauna.
There are prohibitory orders to restrict the movement of vehicular traffic on NH-715, and a speed limit of 20-40 km/hour is in force.