The Kaziranga National Park authorities have resorted to flying of drones to secure the life of wild animals inside the park, particularly the one-horned rhinos in the wake of current wave of flood that have submerged close to 50 per cent of the park area.
Director of the Park Satyendra Singh on Sunday said that they have hired two drones from the Golaghat police and flown it above the park to monitor the flood situation in the park.
“As of now the flood situation is critical. 50 per cent of the park area is under flood waters and the animals are moving towards higher grounds in nearby Karbi Anglong,” he said adding that they have been using the drones to monitor the movements of the animals like elephants, rhinos and others for ensuring their safety.
“Flood is the time when the poachers take advantage and try to kill the animals, particularly the one-horned rhinos. The drones have proved to be helpful in this regard. We can track the movement of the animals and route our patrols accordingly,” said Singh while talking to The Pioneer on Sunday.
He said that there is no food crisis inside the park as of now as the animals are taking shelter in highlands and there are foods. However, the migration of the animals is a routine affair and some animals are moving towards the karbi Anglong.
He said that there is no report of any animal causality due to the floods so far except two deers, who died due to drowning inside the park.
He also said that the park authorities have also resorted to limit the speed of vehicles plying on National Highway No 37 that runs through the southern boundary of the park for safety of the animals.
“We have asked the vehicles to limit their speed to 40 kms per hour only while passing through the stretch as distressed animals try to cross over the national highway and are often hit by speeding vehicles. “An amount of Rs 5,000 is fined from the violators of the speed limit,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that the flood situation has worsened in at least 15 districts of Assam where over 4.80 lakh people were continued to be marooned by flood waters as on Sunday.