Indian Express, Samudra Gupta Kashyap : Guwahati, Mon Jul 02 2012, 

Assam’s worst flood in eight years has taken a heavy toll on the Kaziranga National Park, inundating 80 per cent of its 800sq km area and exposing its animals to highway traffic as they head for shelter in drier areas.

Two adult rhinos and a calf, 22 hog deer and one elephant calf have died due to the floods, while 17 hog deer have been run over while crossing NH-37. “There has been extensive damage to roads and bridges inside the park,” park director S K Bora said. Since Thursday, he said, the two ageing rhinos and the calf have died because they could not negotiate the swirling waters.

Flood waters had been trickling into the park for a fortnight and the level rose sharply on June 26 due to rains in the catchment areas in upper Assam, eastern Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. The effort to protect the animals have left the park’s 900-plus frontline staff on their toes. Over 60 of the 152 watch-camps inside the park are submerged, forcing the squads to patrol from boats.

 
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