Tag Archives: Endangered Animals

Flood-hit Indian state puts rescuers on “war footing”; toll to 83

floods in India; flood-hit; 83 people dead

By Zarir Hussain

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) – Floods in India’s northeast have killed at least 83 people and led to the death of three rare one-horned rhinoceros at a national park that has the world’s largest concentration of the species.

The floods caused by torrential rains across the hilly states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur over the past two weeks, have also triggered landslides. In all more than 2 million people have been displaced, authorities say.

“Assam is the worst hit with 53 lives lost so far in floods and landslides with some 2 million people displaced,” Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told Reuters.

“Relief and rescue operations are going on a war footing.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a team of federal government officials, led by junior home minister Kiren Rijiju, to assess the damage.

The overflowing Brahmaputra River has also completely marooned the Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary in Assam, forcing animals to flee to safer areas.

A one-horned rhinoceros drowned on Friday, taking the toll of the endangered animals in the flooding to three, Assam’s forest minister, Pramila Rani Brahma, told Reuters.

The Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to an estimated 2,500 rhinos out of a world population of some 3,000.

Nearly 60 other animals, mostly deer and wild boars, have been killed in the floods, she said.

(Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Floods in India’s northeast kill 40; endanger rare one-horned rhinos

Villagers use a boat to cross a flooded road at Asigarh village in Morigaon district in Assam, India, July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika

By Zarir Hussain

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) – Floods in northeast India that have killed at least 40 people and displaced nearly 1.5 million have also inundated a national park that is home to the world’s largest concentration of one-horned rhinoceros.

The Brahmaputra river, which flows from China down to India and then through Bangladesh, has burst its banks after torrential monsoon rains, swamping more than 2,500 villages in India’s Assam state over the past two weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his anguish over the human suffering, with thousands of people seeking shelter in more than 300 relief camps. Authorities have declared a “maximum health alert” to stop the spread of disease.

Efforts are also underway to help the rhinos and other wildlife put in danger when flood waters swamped the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.

“More than 90 percent of the Kaziranga National Park is under water,” Assam Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma told Reuters.

The 430 sq km park is home to the world’s largest number of the one-horned rhinoceros, with an estimated 2,500 out of a total population of some 3,000.

“Two rhino calves have drowned and up to 15 deer perished in the high floods,” Brahma said.

Animals are seeking refuge on high ground, including hills outside the park, she said.

But when the animals move to smaller areas of higher ground to escape the floods they become more vulnerable to poachers. They also face increasing danger of being hit by vehicles if they take refuge on roads that often run along embankments.

“Special barricades have been put along the highway and forest guards are asking drivers to drive under 40 km an hour,” a park warden said, adding that a few deer had been hit by speeding trucks.

The water level in the Brahmaputra is expected to keep rising until the end of this week and should then stabilize, provided there is no more heavy rain, the Central Water Commission said.

(Reporting by Zarir Hussain; Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Krishna N. Das, Robert Birsel)