The current wave of floods in Assam has claimed the lives of 187 animals in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) including 15 one horned rhinos, one elephants and over hundred hog deer.
A senior official of the Assam forest department on Monday said that while a total of 15 one horned rhinos have been drowned; one elephant and over 103 hog deer have also reported to have died due to drowning during the current wave of flood in the state.
Flood affected the Kaziranga National Park on July 13 and submerged almost 90 per cent of the park, forcing some of the wild animals to stray out of it.
The flood waters have also submerged the anti-poaching camps over the last one week.
“The flood waters have been showing receding trend as of now. The water level fell by 162 cm in last 24 hours which is a good sign,” the official said.
Giving the details of the animals died during the floods, the senior park official said that a total of 13 wild boar, 12 sambar, six swamp deer, two water buffaloes and 3 porcupines have also died due to drowning.
Apart from this, he said, 16 animals including 15 hog deer and one sambar were killed by speeding vehicle on the National Highway 37.
He said that the forest officials and local villagers have also rescued 53 hog deer, some of which were later released in the wild again.
The overall flood situation has started to improve in Assam as the water levels in all districts are showing a receding trend, officials of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said on Monday.
According to ASDMA, 33, 55,837 people in 2,283 villages in 18 districts are still marooned by the flood.
Flood waters have continued to affect Dhemaji, Biswanath, Darrang, Barpeta, Nalbari, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, South Salmara, Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat and Cachar districts.
The ASDMA officials said that the total number of causality rose up to 69 on Monday with reports of deaths of two more persons due to flood related incidents.