65th Wildlife Week Celebrated as Elephant Day at Kaziranga National Park

A Correspondent

Numaligarh: The second day of the ongoing 65th Wildlife Week was celebrated as Elephant Day by Kaziranga National Park and the Corbett Foundation at the Kohora Range. Students, parents, and teachers from the schools around Kaziranga National Park participated in the event. Rabindra Sharma, Research Officer of KNP, delivered an informative talk on elephant biology and conservation.

An interactive session was organized wherein the students sought information on population dynamics, behavior and ecological role of elephants. The session was attended by P. Shivakumar, Director of KNP, and Rohini Ballav Saikia, DFO, East-Assam Wildlife Division.

Dr Naveen Pandey, Deputy Director and Veterinary Advisor of the Corbett Foundation (TCF), shared his experiences of human-wildlife conflict in Kaziranga, which is one of the core areas of work for TCF. He informed the students that the increasing incidents of human-elephant conflict do not indicate an increase in the population of elephants. He said that there was a concerning decline in the population of elephants in Northeast India and rapid loss and degradation of their habitat was reflected in increased cases of conflict.

There have been frequent reports of elephant deaths in recent times, either due to electrocution in paddy fields or collision with speeding trains. P. Shivakumar, KNP director, expressed his concern for the welfare of both elephants and villagers and said that the forest department was working for coexistence of both. Shivakumar also appealed to the students and parents to reduce usage of polythene and he expressed serious concern over wild animals looking for salt in the wrappers of packaged food which enter the park through various streams feeding the park.

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