As floods in Assam intensified, Kaziranga National Park went nearly underwater, with reports stating that about 90 percent of the park was submerged. In the past few days, images and videos of animals trapped in the floods and trying to escape have made it to the internet.
But amidst all the chaos, some warriors chose to do all they could to protect the distressed animals. A video posted by IFS Parveen Kaswan shared a video of a baby rhino being rescued by a team of wildlife rescuers.
The calf had been submerged in water and would possibly have not made it, had it not been picked up by the teamo n their rescue boat.
The 45-second long video shows the rescuers struggling to lift the calf out of the water. "Some will be lucky. A team of wildlife rescuers get hold of a #Rhino calf in Kaziranga. In the time of disasters", Kaswan wrote in the tweet.
However, not all animals may have the same luck as the rescued rhino calf. Previously, a video of deers swimming in neck deep waters broke many hearts on Twitter.
This will melt your heart. 90% of #Kaziranga is under water now. #Disaster happens for #wildlife also. It increases when habitat is reduced and criss-crossed by other infrastructure. In the time of such disaster it becomes difficult for them to reach at a safer location. pic.twitter.com/E1yowPPJ1b— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) July 16, 2019
The video has garnered gratitude and respect for the rescuers who appear to be Kaziranga staff.
Field staff of Kaziranga are one of the sincerest and I am proud of working with him.#AssamFloods #Kaziranga #Floods #Rhino #Rescue #AssamForest #Conservation #GuardiansOfNature #Wildlife #KazirangaNationalPark pic.twitter.com/mjd5mrUilZ— Arun Vignesh C S, IFS (@arunvigneshcs) July 16, 2019
These people are doing such great work even with minimal facilities. Hats off!— Sushant (@sushant_patnaik) July 17, 2019
thats beautiful video! So Rhino baby bray like a goat 🐐Hope the mom is found soon and reunited.— Raghavendra S (@ragh_twt) July 16, 2019
Happy to see the Rhino Calf rescued by this team of brave Wildlife rescuers. Sad to see his struggle in the gushing watersFloods, natural Disasters take a heavy toll on precious wildlife, which is often not accurately accounted forGod bless this Calf with a long, safe life.— Aruna Krishnan അരുണ കൃഷ്ണൻ अरुणा कृष्णन 🇮🇳 (@Arunakrishnan) July 17, 2019
Kaziranga is home to the world's largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses. Other animals such as tigers, elephants, sloth bears, monkeys and musk deer are also found in the forest.
The staff and security personnel of Kaziranga are performing their duties using mechanised and country boats to deal with any kind of eventualities, officals told PTI. Ninety per cent of the national park in Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state was still submerged, a statement from the Assam Ministry of Forest and Environment said.
Besides forest guards, a State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) team was engaged alongside Assam Police personnel in vulnerable spots of the park, Divisional Forest Officer, Kaziranga National Park (KNP), Rohini Ballab Saikia, said. The press communique said 155 of the 199 anti-poaching camps at the KNP are affected by floodwaters.
(With inputs from PTI)
