Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The Land of great one horned Rhino


Kaziranga National Park is the only National Park in India situated in central Assam with an area of 430 Sq.kms. It is the home of the great Indian one horned Rhinoceros(Unicornis).The landscape of Kaziranga is of sheer forest,tall elephant grass,rugged reeds,mellow marshes and shallow pools.So far the history of Kaziranga is concerned Lady Curzon first heard about Rhino of Kaziranga from her British tea planter friends and came to Assam in 1904-05. Although she could not see the animal she spotted hoof prints with three toes. Which convinced Lady Curzon that such an animal did exist. On her return she persuaded Lord Curzon to do something to save this animal from total annihilation. Lord Curzon set the wheels of British bureaucracy rolling and on 1st June,1905, a preliminary notification announcing the intention of the Government to declare 57,273.60 acres of Kaziranga as a reserved forest was issued. Finally, Kaziranga was declared as reserved forest on 3rd January,1908 and was officially closed for shooting.

On 28th January,1913 the area of reserved forest was expanded with the inclusion of another 13,506 acres Kaziranga was declared a "Game Sanctuary" on 10th November,1916. In 1938 the then conservator of forest, A.J.W. Milroy stopped all poaching and opened Kaziranga to visitors. Because the word 'game' connotated animals for hunting, in 1950, the then senior conservator of forest Mr.P.D.Stracey, changed the term to 'wildlife sanctuary'. Gradually the sanctuary begun as a nucleus encompassing a small area,expanded to its present size. Finally on 11th February,1974, the designation was changed to "Kaziranga National Park". Kaziranga now covers an area of 430 sq.km. Few sanctuaries anywhere can provide as certain an assurance of a unique setting and sight of its best known wild animals and birds as can Kaziranga.

The Park lies on the flood plain of the mighty Brahmaputra river sloping, very gradually, from east to west. The Karbi Anglong Hill ranges rise around the Park pressing it against the great flood of the Brahmaputra flowing as its northern boundary. Into the soup plate between the river and the ranges flow the rivulets Mora Diffoloo, Diffoloo, Bhengra, Borjuri, Diring, Kohora, Dehing, Bhalukjuri and Deopani. They bring down rich silt and sand, spread in small lakes known as 'bheels', silt up the lakes to make swamps and marshes, alluvial grasslands rising to alluvial savannah woodlands; and then, as the climate losses its humidity with height, rise to mixed deciduous forests and, finally, to tropical evergreen forests.

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