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Kaziranga, famous for the fabulous rhino, is also a birdwatcher’s haven, writes Ranjita Biswas
AS one drives through rolling landscape of tea plantations, an endless vista of emerald with background music of flowing wind and falling leaves, extends on both sides of the road. In the distance, the hills are stretched blue across the horizon. In the land of the red river and blue hills, the mighty ‘red’ river Brahmaputra hugs the valley and skirts the park. This is the natural habitat of the great Indian rhinoceros. And we are heading towards the Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam, which has the largest concentration of the one-horned rhino in the world. Driving down to approach the sanctuary at Kohora, one becomes impatient to get a glimpse of the rhino. But perhaps it is better to wait till the morning. The best time to observe them in abundance is at dawn when the elephant safari, conducted by the Forest Department, starts. Meanwhile, one can ruminate on what one has heard and read about Kaziranga, declared a Unesco heritage site in 1985.
Situated on the southern banks of the Brahmaputra and spread over 430 sq km, Kaziranga is rich in biodiversity with tall elephant grass, wetlands, tropical evergreen forests and moist deciduous forests. In fact, though it is justly famous for the fabulous rhino, reminiscent of the mythical Unicorn, the park has an amazing diversity in its fauna. Elephants, Indian bison, swamp deer, hog deer, sloth bear, tigers, leopard cat, jungle cat, hoolock gibbon, wild boar, pythons, monitor lizards, etc. inhabit the reserved area. It is also birdwatcher’s haven with a great variety of birds, and is regarded as an ‘important area’ by Birdlife International. Winter also sees thousands of migratory birds descending on the wetlands. Recently, Kaziranga was declared as having the highest concentration of tigers in the world: 32 per 100 sq km. Poaching of both the rhino and the tiger is a major headache for the Forest Department, though Kaziranga has an enviable reputation for preservation. It was declared a reserve forest even as far back as the British colonial days when Lady Curzon, wife of the British Viceroy, took the initiative to ban poaching in 1908. However, Kaziranga got its official status as a national park only in 1974. Expectation runs high as one gets an early morning wake-up call. Time to get up and pack the camera to go for the elephant-ride. You are not going to be disappointed. As per the 2009 census report, 2,048 of the world’s estimated 3,000 one-horned rhinos are found here. As the experienced mahouts guide the elephants through the tall elephant grass in the misty dawn on the designated trail, one will encounter plenty of rhinos — munching serenely on grass and giving you no more importance than a glance, unless there is a baby around. Then the magnificent animal can turn aggressive. Slothful it may look, but the armoured animal can run very fast. Apart from the rhino, groups of the Indian bison wallowing in the wetland, varieties of birds, little pygmy hogs scurrying about, cries of the hoolock monkey welcome you to this green retreat. Back for breakfast, one can opt for tours to the nearby tea gardens to watch work in progress in tea factories or if you are an avid bird-watcher, you can stay on for more exploration. For the last few years, the Tourism Department has been organising an elephant festival in December-January. A highlight is the congregation of domestic elephants, which comes to join in even from the north bank of the Brahmaputra. Many events are woven around the festival, where local people also get involved and environmentalists are invited to talk about the need for preservation.
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