The Kaziranga National Park

The Kaziranga National Park, located in the heart of Assam and spread over an area of 688 sq km is one of the last areas in east India which remains undisturbed by human presence. One of the last home of the Indian Rhino, it also houses other mammals like the Tiger, Elephants, Deer, Panthers and a range of birds.

The Kaziranga National park is inhabited by not only the Rhinos but also other animals. The park is home to almost all the animals that are big in size - Elephants, wild buffoloes, Indian Bison and swamp deer, Tigers, leopard cats, gaurs and ofcourse Rhinos. The other fauna you can find here are hoolock gibbons, hog badgers, capped langurs, sambars, jackals, porcupines, pythons and other snakes. The Hoolock Gibbons, a tailless ape and can be found in the hills of Assam. The Kaziranga National Park is the home for almost half the world’s population of the one – horn rhinos. The great Indian one-horned rhino with its two tons of threatening muscles and tank like belligerence, once ruled the wetlands of North-east India. Its horn which can measure up to 24 inches is not exactly a horn - it is compressed hair.

The range of avifauna here is commendable and increases during the winter season, when the migratory birds descend here for their seasonal visit. Rose-ringed parakeets, Crested Serpent Eagles, Grey- headed fishing eagles, Red jungle fowl, Whistling teals, bar headed geese, and Bengal floricabs can be seen in flocks. Herons and Egrets of almost all types can be found sitting gracefully on the fringes of the Brahmaputra River.

The Kaziranga National Park is a vast stretch of vegetation. It’s a land with tall elephant grass interspersed with dense tropical wet evergreen forests and tropical semi-green forests which are well irrigated by the many streams and rivulets that run through out the forest.

The mornings in Assam are usually misty and this has influenced the naming of the main gate of the park. The main gate, called Kohra, means mist. As the sun rises slowly above the horizon, the visitor is provided with a spectacular sight of dense, lush elephant grass wrapped in mist. As the first hazy view of the evergreen forests and swamps is light up by the first rays of the sun, the visitor is treated to an amazingly exquisite scene of nature’s beauty, with the gurgling of the Brahmaputra River flowing nearby and the lovely sound of the birds singing as accompaniment music.

The same Brahmaputra River which is a lifeline to the animals, birds and the trees during the summer creates havoc in the monsoons by flooding the place. During these months, the reptiles take refuge in island like places and watchtowers which are built for the forest guards and can stand the ravages of the floods. The amazing thing is that during such times the reptiles like the snake, live along with the guards in the same place and never harm them. They all respect each others right to live and live peacefully.