Kaziranga Sanctuary - The Land of the Giants

Kaziranga National Park is a God gifted sanctuary, with the mighty Brahmaputra River on the north, with the rivers Diphlu, Mora Dhansiri and Mora Diphlu criss crossing the 430 sq KM, further supplemented with water bodies called Beel – Daphlang, Borbeel and Koladuar,  tall elephant grassland, dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, miles and miles of marshland upto the foot hills of Mikir Karbi Anglang Hills with National Highway 37 snaking in between more of a handicap today from Gorakati to Bokakhat. It is a biodiversity hotspot, a breeding ground for the big five mammals i.e  elephants, wild water buffalo, swam deers, tigers and the famed one horn rhinoceros hence known as the Land of the Giants. It is also an important Bird Area declared by Bird  life International for the conservation of Avifaunal species.

It all began with the visit of Viceroy of India Lord Curzon and wife Mary Curzon to Kaziranga and were rather disappointed of not being able to view any of the one horned rhinos.  The rhino horn is believed to have medicinal and aphrodisiac properties which lead to large scale poaching of the rhinos. The population of rhinos had dwindled to a hundred and stern forest conservation efforts and anti poaching measures were required to be adopted to reduce the killing of the Rhinos by the poachers or else it could lead to its extinction. Drawing attention to the plight of the endangered mammal , a serious thought was given towards its conservation and on 1^st June 1905, Mary Curzon proposed the idea of converting Kaziranga into a Reserve Forest. The idea paid dividends as the last count in March 2015 showed a population of 2401 one horned rhinoceros. Global conservation Group WWF  estimates that fewer than 3000 of the one horn rhinoceros survive today. Found mostly in North East India with a few hundred in Nepal,  Kaziranga is a home to two third of the world population of one horned rhinoceros.  Kaziranga was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985, a Tiger Reserve in 2006 and celebrated its centennial  in the year 2006.  

The State of Assam along with the rest of the North East States is home to about five thousand wild elephants and fifteen hundred captive elephants. The region is an idle habitat for elephants and the banning of felling of trees in the North East by the Supreme Court of India has left the elephants without any work. There are about hundred captive elephants in and around Kaziranga utilized for wildlife protection work and some for conducting safari during the tourist season. 

In 2015 a clinic Mark Shand Asian Elephant Learning Centre  was opened in Kaziranga to deal with the health related problems of the captive elephants.  Named after Mark Shand, brother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall a British travel writer and conservationist, a brand ambassador of Kaziranga National Park and a co founder of Foundation of Elephant Family.   

The conservation efforts have no doubt paid rich dividends, but yet Rhino poaching in Assam is a major environmental issue. The methodology used for poaching rhinoceros varies from shooting them down, trapping them in pits to saw off their horns, electrocution, poisoning or just by strangulation. The Brahmaputra plays the devil’s part during the monsoons when  the flood waters forces the animals out of the Kaziranga Sanctuary and the poachers have a field day. I vividly remember the day, years ago travelling from upper Assam and halting for lunch at a resort only to know that the roads have been cut off due to floods in the Kaziranga sanctuary. Being desperate to reach Guwahati, I left my car at the resort and took a bus which was equally desperate to reach Guwahati. The flood waters level had reached the windows of the bus as we headed towards our destination. A few kilometers away we met the stranded cars, buses and trucks all trying frantically to move on and suddenly we heard noises all around and what a sight. Frightened rhinoceros were on the highway, lead by the forest guards with a stick in hand trying to guide the animals to a safer place from the flood water and the poachers too. I had had many a experience of sighting the animals from a elephants back or when on jeep safari but here I could almost touch them sitting on a   bus. The experience was traumatic for both the human and the animal and it has been embedded in my memories as the first recall of the sanctuary.

The natural habitat for varied flora and fauna with serene surroundings is a visitor delight during November to April but the best time for sighting animals is between February and March when the control burning of the forests is carried out by the sanctuary authorities.

Kaziranga sanctuary can be reached through the Airports Guwahati ( 215 KM ), Jorhat (113 KM) & Tezpur (50 KM). All three airports are well connected from Kolkata. As regards to stay there hotels, resorts, home stays which have mushroomed over the years along the National Highway 37 from Jakhalabandha to Bokakhat with tariffs affordable from Kings to the subjects. The Royal couple Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton were the guests at the Diphlu River Lodge at Kaziranga in April 2016. 

Tourists when on the road driving along Kaziranga sanctuary on NH 37 should bear in mind the speed limits varying from 10 kmph 40 kmph. The animals cross over from the north to the south of the sanctuary to the adjacent Karbi Anglong Hills mostly when the flood water submerges the park.  The National Green Tribunal has in fact banned traffic during the peak wildlife activity on six sections of National Highway 37 passing through the sanctuary which have been identified as wildlife corridors by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It has installed cameras to ascertain the speed the vehicle is been driven in these earmarked corridors. Time card system has also been introduced to know the average speed the car has travelled through the sanctuary. Fines are being imposed accordingly. It is frustrating at times to drive at such low speeds on well built roads and low traffic but the blessing in disguise it one can enjoy the scenic beauty of the flora and at times fauna too as one horned rhinoceros, deer, herd of wild elephants can be seen grazing or drinking at water holes from the car itself.

However the best view of the wild life is from a back of an elephant or from a four wheel drive vehicles. Elephant rides are taken as early in the morning between 0530 am and 0730 am and jeep safaris in two shifts i.e 0700 to 1000 am in the morning and 1.30 pm to 0300 pm in the afternoon. These are arranged the previous day from the hotels & resorts one is staying. The areas covered by the safaris are Kaziranga Range in Kohara Western range in Bagori Eastern range in Agoratoli and Burapahar Range in Ghorakati.

I have visited Kaziranga many a times but each time I wake up early in the morning with darkness around, with thoughts of taking a ride on an elephant backs makes my adrenaline run high as we make our way from the resort to the elephants embarkment area. 

 To mount an elephant one has to get up upon a platform high enough for the feet to be at the level of the elephant’s back. Swing your legs and one is on the top of the elephant.  The elephants moves in groups with armed men to guide. Each elephant  has a mahout and carries tourists in two, fours and sixes. It takes a little time to adjust to the movement of the elephant as it sways its way into the park soon surrounded by tall grass reaching almost at eye level even though on an elephant back. 

The early morning fogs engulfs us as we strain our eyes to sight the first of the one horn rhinoceros. The mahout with his experience guides the elephants deep into the range and points us to the  rhino standing majestically  a few meters away. Elephant safaris allow one to get closer to wild animals as they are not bothered by the elephant because they do not seem to notice the human on top of them. 

However it will be prudent not to wear bright clothes and utilize the camera flash. Please keep in mind that it is difficult to capture photographs while a top an elephant because they are constantly suffering their feet even when stationery, so the swaying movement is perennial. As the morning fog clears and the sun rises, one can have a rewarding experience of sighting one horned rhinos moving their armored look alike bodies grazing gracefully, at times also seen with their baby rhinos,  or a bird on their backs , or with wild buffaloes and deer along its side.

 

 Jeep safaris in Kaziranga National park is permitted on designated tourist path decided by the forest officials. Jeep Safaris are conducted in two different shifts. The morning jeep safari timings is 07:00 AM to 0930 AM and afternoon is 01:30 PM to 03:30 PM. Jeep safaris takes one deep inside the park and area coverage is more compared to the elephant safaris. The experience of the driver and the time of the day and lady luck decides the  sighting of  wild elephants, rhinos and tigers. Birdlife is in plenty and the nature at its best. Animals too with their experience can pick up the sound of the vehicle and hide themselves. The surprise element plays a big role in sighting the animals and hence the first mover among the vehicles has an added advantage. It gives a thrilling feeling as we ride the jeep safari leaving behind dust of the road trail  flying and with an anticipation of sighting a wild animal on the next turn.

Besides the elephant and Jeep safaris, bird watching and trekking, the resorts, hotels and home stays around Kaziranga sanctuary provide the best of  to the Assamese cuisine. It is also a stepping stone to visit the Tea gardens which yet  have a tinge of the colonial way of life or play a round of golf in the courses dotted all around upper Assam. But all said and done, holidaying in the scenic environs of Kaziranga Sanctuary leaves one spell bound and a life time experience contrary to the response of a British Forest Officer in 1930 to the famous naturalist E.P.Gee, author of Wildlife of India request of permission to visit Kaziranga “ No one can enter the place. It is all swamps and leeches and even elephants cannot go there”.