KAZIRANGA
NATIONAL PARK - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Rhino count not
manipulated: Kaziranga Director
What's
in the news?
●
The rhino estimation of 2022 was not
manipulated and was consistent with the animal’s average annual growth rate of
2.7% in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Key
takeaways:
●
Kaziranga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
houses the bulk of the Greater Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis).
●
The 2022 census estimated the animal’s
population in the tiger reserve to be 2,613, exactly 200 more than the figure
arrived at during the 2018 census.
● It
is a national park in the state of Assam,
India.
● It
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
● The
sanctuary hosts two-thirds of the
world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses.
○ Rhinos
are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species.
● Kaziranga
was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.
● Fauna: The park is home to large breeding
populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.
● Important Bird Area: 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.
● Flora: 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.