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My First Experience with the Wilderness of

Kaziranga National Park : A World Heritage Site

aziranga a name of wilderness! Located in the outskirts of the districts, Nagaon
and Golaghat in the State of Assam, Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is a unique
Kecosystem, nestled with unique biodiversity. The park was established the year
1974 and designated as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in the year 1985. Later on in
order to manage the viable population of tigers in their natural habitats KNP was covered
under the ‘Project Tiger’ in the year 2006. Spread across 430 Km2, the park serves as a
natural home to about 60% of the world’s population of the Indian one-horned
rhinoceros. KNP is one of the important tourist’s destinations, mainly because of its
outstanding biodiversity and rich cultural diversity. There are several perceptions behind
the origin of name ‘Kaziranga’. As per an legend ‘Kazi’ in Karbi language means ‘Goat’ and
Kavya Joshi
VII ‘D’ ‘Rangai’ means ‘Red’, the land of red goats (deer). As per another legend, the name
Tagore International School, ‘Kaziranga’ was derived from the Karbi word ‘Kajir-a-rang’, which means the village of
East of Kailash, New Delhi Kajir (Kairorgaon).

The wider grasslands and flood plains of the river Brahmaputra blessed the area with a huge variety of flora and fauna.
Containing the tropical wet evergreen and tropical semi-evergreen forests, KNP is endowed with the elephant and spear
grasslands and marshlands, which all sanctify the area with a high range of species diversity. Some of the wildlife
inhabiting KNP includes, Hoolock Gibbon, Tiger, Leopard, Indian Elephant, Sloth Bear, Wild Water Buffalo, Swamp
Deer, Indian Hog Deer, etc. Besides, the park is also blessed with Gangetic Dolphins. The park has also been designated as
an ‘Important Bird Area’ by the Birdlife International.
On 6th April, 2019, I along with my parents and officials of the Assam Council of
Science, Technology and Environment visited the KNP for observing the natural
heritage site in the heart of the holy river Brahmaputra. Since the park has some
identified tracks for tourists, we have been allocated with the track, which move
across the Kohora forest range of the park. Quite a few rains occurred in the area
made the climate pleasant. For me, it was a heart-full of excitement and thrill on the
other side. While moving across the track, we encountered several groups of
elephants, swamp deer, Indian one-horned rhinoceros, water buffalos, birds; etc.
Swamp deer in Kaziranga National Park
Spectacular sight was that of a large yellow monitor lizard which was crossing a
rough road in front of our vehicle. The wooden bridges and small streams were
amazing and revealed about the forest management initiatives being undertaken
Some Salient Features of
Kaziranga National Park by the forest department.

After moving few kilometres ahead, we saw Assam roof turtle in a
water channel basking on a broken tree sub-merged in the flowing
water. It was thrilling to note that deeper we entered the park, darker
it became. It was quite a smooth journey till encounter with three
male elephant. After a while when one of the adult bull elephant
Tourists observing the Indian My kingdom: tusker
turned towards our jeep one-horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga observingthe threat
National Park
with a ferocious behaviour, we were panicked as the situation became worse when our jeep got stucked in a pool of rain
water. The driver helplessly tried his best to pave a way out but all went to vain and only the option to save our lives was
to escape out from the eye of elephant.

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