Assam: Kaziranga Locals Spring into Action, Rescue Deer Stranded in Flood

Golaghat, July 15, 2019:

As per the latest reports, almost 70% of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam is submerged underneath floods, which has caused great distress to the animals residing in the world-famous Park.

Some of them have moved to the highlands to escape the wrath of the floods, while some have moved onto the highways (often to disastrous results). Unfortunately, many of these tortured animals have also become easy prey to poachers.

As recently as Saturday, a deer which had moved to the highway to seek respite from the flood was run over by a speeding vehicle at 1 pm on Saturday at Bagori near the National Highway 37.

Seeing this, locals have sprung into action and and trying their darnedest to save and rescue the animals of Kaziranga National Park.

Speaking to Inside Northeast, Laknath Sharma, a local resident, says that Kaziranga is always affected the floods. "The animals move towards the Karbi Anglong side and they cross the highway, which is perilous. Now, a time card has been instituted which will regulate the speed of vehicles. Vehicles can now only move under 40 kmph, exceeding which they can be fined upto Rs. 5,000."

Sharma also says that the locals, who are often being maligned as destroyers of the environment, are helping the animals each year and says that the Kaziranga locals help the animals to cross the roads each year. "We rescue the deer which are trapped in the flood waters as they are unable to swim for long. Yesterday, we rescued a deer which was trapped and handed it over to the forest authorities", he said.

Inside Northeast’s Campaign #LetsSaveDeeporBeel is now supported by Oil India Limited (OIL). Join us as we continue the awareness campaign to preserve the only Ramsar site in Assam which is facing immense threats (A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention). We need your help to preserve this site of great ecological importance. Join the #LetsSaveDeeporBeel campaign and tweet about it, and do tag us on Twitter. Let’s make some noise!