Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga National Park
Adult Indian rhinoceros, with a calf at Kaziranga National Park in Bagori range of Nagaon district of Assam, India
Map showing the location of Kaziranga National Park
Map showing the location of Kaziranga National Park
Map showing the location of Kaziranga National Park
Map showing the location of Kaziranga National Park
LocationGolaghat and Nagaon districts,[1] Assam, India
Nearest cityGolaghat
Coordinates26°40′N 93°21′E / 26.667°N 93.350°E / 26.667; 93.350
Area1,090 km2 (420 sq mi)
Established1905; 119 years ago (1905)
1974; 50 years ago (1974) (as national park)
Governing bodyGovernment of Assam
Government of India
Websitehttps://kaziranga.nptr.in/
TypeNatural
Criteriaix, x
Designated1985 (9th session)
Reference no.337
RegionAsia

Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. The park, which hosts two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2] According to the census held in March 2018 which was jointly conducted by the Forest Department of the Government of Assam and some recognized wildlife NGOs, the rhino population in Kaziranga National Park is 2,613. It comprises 1,641 adult rhinos (642 males, 793 females, 206 unsexed); 387 sub-adults (116 males, 149 females, 122 unsexed); and 385 calves.[3]

In 2015, the rhino population stood at 2,401. Kaziranga National Park was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.[4] Kaziranga is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for conservation of avifaunal species. When compared with other protected areas in India, Kaziranga has achieved notable success in wildlife conservation. Located on the edge of the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot, the park combines high species diversity and visibility.

Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, criss-crossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, and the park includes numerous small bodies of water. Kaziranga has been the theme of several books, songs, and documentaries. The park celebrated its centennial in 2005 after its establishment in 1905 as a reserve forest.

In 2017, Kaziranga came under severe criticism after a BBC News documentary revealed a hardliner strategy to conservation, reporting the killing of 20 people a year in the name of rhino conservation.[5] As a consequence of this reporting, BBC News was banned from filming in protected areas in India for 5 years.[6] While several news reports claimed that BBC had apologized for the documentary, the BBC stood by its report, with its Director General, Tony Hall, writing in a letter to Survival International that the letter "in no way constitutes an apology for our journalism."[7] As a response to the report, researchers in India have provided more nuanced understanding of the matter, calling out BBC for the carelessness of its journalism, but also pointing to the problems of conservation in Kaziranga[8] and questioning whether shoot-at-sight has been a useful conservation strategy at all.[9]

  1. ^ National Park, Kaziranga. "Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve". Kaziranga National Park. our My India and Peak Adventure Tour. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  2. ^ Bhaumik, Subir (17 April 2007). "Assam rhino poaching 'spirals'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
  3. ^ Dutt, Anonna (30 March 2018). "Kaziranga National Park's rhino population rises by 12 in 3 years". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Welcome to Kaziranga". Archived from the original on 30 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Kaziranga: The park that shoots people to protect rhinos". BBC News. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ Pinjarkar, Vijay. "Kaziranga report gets BBC banned for 5 years". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  7. ^ International, Survival. "BBC boss stands by Kaziranga killings exposé". www.survivalinternational.org. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Grasslands of Grey: The Kaziranga Model Isn't Perfect – But Not in the Ways You Think". The Wire. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Shoot-at-sight is not unjustified. But that alone can't stop poaching at Kaziranga". The Indian Express. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.