Kaziranga sanctuary reopens with tribute to British­ era officer

Kaziranga sanctuary reopens with tribute to British­ era officer

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected areas

Context:

Named after Patrick D. Stracey, the library was inaugurated on Sunday. Stracey, who was born in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada, served as an Indian Forest Service officer in Assam. He played a key role in renaming the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary as a wildlife sanctuary in 1950. He also established the Assam Forest School, a training institute catering to the northeastern region.

About Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary 

• Location: It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.
• Legal Status:
  • It was declared as a National Park in 1974.
  • It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007. It has a total tiger reserve area of 1,030 sq km with a core area of 430 sq. km.
• International Status:
  • It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
  • It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
• Important Species Found:
  • It is the home of the world’s most one-horned rhinos. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest density of one-horned rhinos in the world and second highest number of Rhinos in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
  • Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the ‘big four’ species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.
  • The 2018 census had yielded 2,413 rhinos and approximately 1,100 elephants.
  • As per the figures of tiger census conducted in 2014, Kaziranga had an estimated 103 tigers, the third highest population in India after Jim Corbett National Park (215) in Uttarakhand and Bandipur National Park (120) in Karnataka.
  • Kaziranga is also home to 9 of the 14 species of primates found in the Indian subcontinent.
• Rivers and Highways:
  • The National Highway 37 passes through the park area.
  • The park also has more than 250 seasonal water bodies, besides the Diphlu River running through it.

About the One -horned Rhino:

• The greater one-horned rhino (or “Indian rhino”) is the largest of the rhino species.
• It is found in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and India.
• It is Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and lies in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
• It is in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
• India is home to over 85 % population. It is found in UP, West Bengal and Assam.
• According to WWF data from 2012, Assam has 91 % of the total Rhino in India which is mainly concentrated in Kaziranga National Park, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Others include Manas Tiger Reserve, Orang Tiger Reserve and Laokhowa Reserved Forests.

There are five rhino species:

• Great One horned rhino- Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.
• White rhinos – near threatened in the IUCN Red List.
• Black rhinos in Africa – critically endangered in the IUCN Red List.
• Javan rhino- Critically endangered in IUCN Red List.
• Sumatran rhinos- extinct.
• There are three species of rhino in Asia—Greater one-horned (Rhinoceros unicornis), Javan and Sumatran.
• Only the Great One-Horned Rhino is found in India.
• Also known as Indian rhino, it is the largest of the rhino species.

Other national parks in Assam are:

• Dibru-Saikhowa National Park
• Manas National Park
• Nameri National Park
• Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park
• DehingPatkai National Park
• Raimona National Park