Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 2 | Issue 1 | Mar - May 2017 | Page 56

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
photo credit: kaziranga-national-park
The Kaziranga Game Sanctuary was renamed the
“Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary” in 1950 by
P. D. Stracey, the forest conservationist, in order to
rid the name of hunting connotations.In 1954, the
government of Assam passed the Assam
(Rhinoceros) Bill, which imposed heavy penalties
for rhinoceros poaching. [citation needed] Fourteen
years later, in 1968, the state government passed the
Assam National Park Act of 1968, declaring Kaziranga a
designated national park. The 430 km2 (166 sq mi) park
was given official status by the central government on 11th
February 1974. In 1985, Kaziranga was declared a
World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique
natural environment.
Kaziranga has been the target of several natural and
man-made calamities in recent decades. Floods caused
by the overflow of the river Brahmaputra, leading to
significant losses of animal life. Encroachment by people
along the periphery had also led to a diminished forest
cover and a loss of habitat.
Geography
Kaziranga is located between latitudes 26°30’ N
and 26°45’ N, and longitudes 93°08’ E to 93°36’ E
within two districts in the Indian state of Assam-the
Kaliabor subdivision of Nagaon district and the
Bokakhat subdivision of Golaghat district.
The park
from east
north to
km2(146
56
is approximately 40 km (25 mi) in length
to west, and 13 km (8 mi) in breadth from
south. Kaziranga covers an area of 378
sq mi), with approximately 51.14 km2
(20 sq mi) lost to erosion in recent years. A total
addition of 429 km2 (166 sq mi) along the present
boundary of the park has been made and
designated with separate national park status to provide
extended habitat for increasing the population of wildlife
or, as a corridor for safe movement of animals to Karbi
Anglong Hills. Elevation ranges from 40 m (131 ft) to
80 m (262 ft). The park area is circumscribed by the
Brahmaputra River, which forms the northern and
eastern boundaries, and the Mora Diphlu, which forms
the southern boundary. Other notable rivers within the
park are the Diphlu and Mora Dhansiri.
Kaziranga has flat expanses of fertile, alluvial soil,
formed by erosion and silt deposition by the River
Brahmaputra. The landscape consists of exposed
sandbars, riverine flood-formed lakes known as, beels,
(which make up 5% of the surface area) and elevated
regions known as, chapories, which provide retreats
and shelter for animals during floods. Many artificial
chapories have been built with the help of the
Indian Army to ensure the safety of the animals.
Kaziranga is one of the largest tracts of protected land in the
sub-Himalayan belt, and due to the presence of
highly diverse and visible species, has been described as a
“biodiversity hotspot”. The park is located in the
Indomalaya ecozone, and the dominant biomes of
the region are Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen
forests of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf
forests biome and a frequently flooded variant of the
Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands of the tropical and
subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome.
Vol 2|Issue 1|Mar - May 2017