Situated
in Jorhat Nawgaon district, the Kaziranga National Park declared
a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985, extends over an area of
430sq.km. It is bounded by the Mikir Hills on the South and Brahmaputra
river on the north. The park, 217 km from the capital of Assam,
Guwahati was declared a Wildlife sanctuary in 1950 and accorded
the status of a National Park in 1974. The park divided into central,
eastern and western sectors consists of semi- evergreen forested
highlands, rivulets, marshes and extensive plains covered with tall
elephant grass up to 6 metres high.
The
park is famous for Indian one horned rhinoceros which can reach
a height of over two metres and weigh more than two tonnes. The
area was declared a game reserve in 1908 to save the one-horned
rhino. The total number of rhinoceros in the park totals more than
thousand which is 70 percent of the total population of this species
in the country. A single horn of the rhino is worth exorbitant amounts
of money. ( US $ 40,000 in 1995).
The
park also has elephants, swamp or wild buffalo (Over 70% of the
world population), swamp deer, hog deer, barking deer, sambar/ Hoolock
gibbon, pythons, civet cat, wild boar and tigers. There is a rich
variety of fresh water fowls, over 450 species of woodland and grassland
birds of which 18 species are globally threatened. Birds like the
egrets, pond herons, river tern, black necked storks, pelican, partridges,
Bengal florican stork, pied horn bill, fishing eagle are found in
abundance. The river here, has the gharial (fish eating crocodile)
and dolphins.
March - April is best for animal sightings. Trained elephants
are available as mounts for seeing the rhinos at close range.
Elephant rides which last around one hour, should be booked the
previous evening at the park administrative Centre in Kohora.
Elephant rides between 0500 - 0600, 0630 - 0730 and 1530 -1630.
Jeep drives are also available. The rides at dawn are best to
see the animals. There are three road routes inside the park open
from 0800 - 1100 and 1400 - 1630 (1) Kazi ranga or central range
- Kohora, Daglang, Foliomari, (2) Western range (Best to see rhinos
and buffaloes) - Baguri, Monabeel, Bimoli, Kanchanjuri. (3) Eastern
range(30km from Kohora best to see birds) - Agortoli, Sohola,
Rangamatia. The observation towers are situated at Sohola, Mihimukh,
Kathpara, Foliamari and Harmoti. Other attractions here are the
coffee and rubber plantations of the nearby Karbi Anglong and
the tea gardens of Hatikhuli, Methoni, Difalu, Behora, and Borchapori.
» How
to reach Kaziranga
By
Air : The nearest airports are at Jorhat, 97-km and Guwahati, 217-km
away from the park. Jorhat has direct flights to Kolkata.
By Rail : The nearest railhead is Furkating, situated
75-km away from the park and Jorhat.
By Road : The main gate for Kaziranga, at Kohora
is on the National Highway 37. ASTC and private buses stop here
on their way to and from Guwahati, Tezpur and Upper Assam.