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Animals seek refuge on highlands
Why in news?
- Kaziranga National Park (KNP)’s man-made highlands have turned into islands of relative safety for the park’s animals.
- It is because large parts of Assam remain inundated by flood waters.
- Species that have taken refuge in these patches of higher ground are the one-horned rhino and the water buffalo.
- Floods are a necessary evil in Kaziranga, which comprises a mix of wetlands, grasslands and forests.
- Every monsoon, the neighbouring Brahmaputra inundates the 880 sq km park — its core area is 430 sq km — primarily serving to flush out the aquatic plants and weeds that choke its ecosystem.
- The annual natural process, however, tests the survivability of the park’s animals and leaves a trail of death.
- Kaziranga National Park is a protected area in Assam spread across the floodplains of Brahmaputra River.
- Its forests, wetlands and grasslands are home to tigers, elephants and the world’s largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses.
- Ganges River dolphins swim in the park’s waters. It is visited by many rare migratory birds, and gray pelicans roost near Kaziranga village.
Source
The Hindu