Location: Golaghat District Map
Area: 430 km2 (166 sq mi)
Bonani Tourist Lodge, Kolora (03776) 26 2423
Open: 9am- 6pm Nov- Apr
Tel. +91 9650 744431
Stay: GMVN Bungalow (www.gmvnl.com)
Kaziranga National Park is a nature reserve
situated in Golaghat District in India. Kaziranga National Park
covers an area of 430 km2 (166 sq mi). The park was
founded in 1905, and in 2005 celebrated its 100th anniversary. An
important role in the foundation of the park was played by Baroness
Mary Curzon, wife of the Lord Viceroy of India, Lord George Curzon.
The area occupied by the park is 688 square meters. km A significant
part of it belongs to the Brahmaputra river basin. The park has
beautiful tropical forests, rivers, magnificent meadows. The park
became world famous because it has the largest (2/3 of the world)
population of the unicorn rhino in the world. Also in the park you
can see tigers, elephants, gubachi bears, Bengal cats, fishing cats,
gaurs, hawks, binturongs and many other wild animals. In total, the
park has more than 30 species of mammals, 15 of which are endangered
in the world. In Kaziranga, there are more than 40 species of
turtles, lizards and snakes. The park has bird and tiger reserves,
and there are also endangered species of animals.
Kaziranga is one of the oldest national parks in India and the largest habitat for the one-horned rhinoceros. Kaziranga is also a UNESCO world heritage site.
The creation of the national park in 1905 goes back to the British
statesman Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India. The national park
administration is based in Bokahat. Four administrative stations are
located at Agaratoli, Baguri, Burrhpahar and Kohora.
The core
area of the Kaziranga was placed under protection as a reserve forest on
June 1, 1908 and was given the status of a game sanctuary in 1916. In
1938 the area was opened to visitors. After India's independence in
1947, it became a wildlife sanctuary in 1950 and on February 11, 1974,
it achieved the highest protected status as a national park. In 2005 the
national park was declared an elephant reserve and in 2007 a tiger
reserve.
The park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since
1985.
Over time, the protected area was repeatedly expanded. When
it was established as an Indian national park, it covered 430 square
kilometers. Gradual expansions began on May 20, 1997. Many expansions
were challenged in the courts (often by farmers who felt their pasture
or forest use rights were being impaired), so that their final legal
implementation sometimes took decades. This partial legal uncertainty is
probably also a reason why there are very different information about
the area of the national park. On the other hand, the national park is
losing larger areas due to erosion of the Brahmaputra. The Assam
government is therefore constantly striving to incorporate new, smaller
areas on the edge of the national park into the park. By 2020, after
several expansions, the area had grown to 858.98 square kilometers
(according to official information from the relevant Indian ministry).
The following table lists the previous expansions of the national
park. The numbering follows the official count. The total of all
expansions results in a theoretical area of 919.49 km² for 2022.
Flora and fauna
Kaziranga has richness and diversity with nearly
42 species of fish, 9 species of amphibians, 27 species of reptiles,
more than 491 species of birds and 35 species of mammals. Among larger
mammals, there are nearly 86 tigers (2000 census), 1,048 elephants (2002
census), 2,048 rhinos (2009 census), 1,431 wild buffalo (2001 census),
486 swamp deer. Kaziranga also possesses more than 546 species of
plants.
Kaziranga is said to have about 86 tigers, considered the
national park with the highest tiger density in the world (1 tiger per 5
square kilometers, 2000 survey). Tourists rarely see tigers here because
the national park has dense tall grass. Rhino is the most notable animal
here. Kaziranga is also one of the last wild populations of Asiatic
buffalo, but even here there are many descendants of domesticated and
wild buffalo. In addition, it has a large number of bird species and is
considered an important bird area.
Typical tropical climate. The climate is hot and humid in summer (April to June) and cold at night in winter (October to January). Kaziranga is flooded by the waters of the Brahmaputra river every year. The rainy season prevails from June to August. When it rains, Kaziranga becomes inaccessible. The best time to visit Kaziranga is during September-October or February to March.
By bus: from Guwahati (217 km, Rs. 200), Jorhat (96 km, Rs. 70),
Nawgaon, Dibrugarh, Tezpur (75 km, Rs. 50) or Tinsukia. If you are
visiting Kaziranga after a trip to Arunachal Pradesh, Tezpur is the best
destination from which to catch a bus to the national park. If you enter
the state of Assam via Guwahati, you can take a bus from there to
Kaziranga. Bus ticket prices vary depending on whether the service is
private or state-run.
By air - the nearest airport is in the town of
Jorhat, 96 km from Kaziranga. Jorhat has regular flights from Kolkata,
Delhi and Guwahati.
By rail - The nearest train station to Kaziranga
is from Furkating, 80 km away. Furkating has trains from Delhi and
Kolkata.
By motorbike - Another way to reach Kaziranga from Guwahati
and Kohima is by motorbike, which is conducted as a guided motorbike
tour in the state of Assam and neighboring states. Tours are operated by
travel companies. The motorbike tour covers the states of Assam,
Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Tourists can not only visit
the national park but also go to rural areas to experience the
traditional cultures of tribes and local people.
The only way to get
around the national park is via a Jeep or elephant ride.
Stay at one of the local lodges, such as Eco Camp, Wild Grass Resort
or Diphlu River Lodge. An evening with music and lots of delicious local
food.
Get married on an elephant, explore the grasslands and see
rhinos. Elephant riding takes place very early in the morning and lasts
about an hour.
Take a jeep tour to see other wildlife like storks,
eagles, and swamp deer.
At Kohora (on the Guwahati-Jorhat route) there is a huge campus of
the Assam Tourism Department, opposite the Kohora bus stand. Here you
can find some luxury accommodations (Rs 400-2000 per night per room).
It's very convenient because you don't have to go through an
intermediary service.
Information for tourist lodges in Assam
tourism complex contact as follows-Bonani (Bon Habi) - 03.776-262.423,
03.776-262.675, 03.776-262.575 Aranya-03.776-262.429, Kohora
IB-03.776-262.428, Bagori - 03.672-283.463
Director of Tourism
can also contact: Guwahati: 0361-2547102, 2542748 Email:
astdcorpn@sancharnet.in
Some other private motels: -
Wild
Grass, ☎ 0091 3776 262085, email: wildgrasskaziranga@gmail.com. They
have expert guides and very nice resting facilities. The resort provides
a forest tourism environment. The rooms are spacious and comfortable,
the staff is attentive. You should book rooms in advance during the
tourist season. Just a simple phone call, and the motel car will arrive
on the highway to pick you up.
Nature-Hunt Eco Camp, ☎ 91-9435515011.
Relatively new and not commercialized. Apart from providing services in
Kaziranga, they also provide services in other North Eastern states and
can arrange stays in all national parks.
Landmark Woods, ☎ +91
9957189228, e-mail: landmarktours@sify.com. A resort near the western
edge of the national park.
Wild Mahseer, ☎ +91-3714-234354, e-mail:
wildmahseer@yahoo.com. This hotel is a historic landmark featuring
Victorian architecture and has spacious rooms in four bungalows.
In
addition, you can also camp outdoors.
The limited number of restaurants is limited within the national park area. All tourist lodges have their own catering facilities. But the cost of food is quite expensive. There are several wine shops at Kohora. Although their prices are not cheap. The electricity and water area is extremely lacking, so you will have to accept that drinks are not chilled.
In Kohora, there are many shops selling forest products and local handicrafts.
The climate is characterized by the monsoon; hardly any precipitation falls between November and April; the average annual rainfall in the other months is around 1,830 mm. Around two thirds of the park area will then be flooded, also due to the Brahmaputra overflowing its banks and depositing nutrient-rich mud. This natural fertilization creates tall grass habitats and is a prerequisite for biodiversity in the national park. The average temperature in summer is 32 °C and in winter it is 10 °C.
Kaziranga is home to significant populations of rare large animal
species. Around 2,600 Indian rhinos live in the park (as of 2022),
around 1,250 Asian elephants (as of 2005) and over 1,400 wild water
buffalo (as of 2001). The elephants sometimes form herds of up to 200
animals. The protected area is also home to around a hundred Bengal
tigers (as of 2000) and around 470 specimens (as of 2000) of the rare
Barasingha pointy deer, which occurs here in a special subspecies. There
are around 60 sambar deer (as of 1999) and around 430 wild boars (as of
1999). Other large herbivores include Indian muntjac deer, hog deer and
gaur. In addition to the tiger, large carnivores include Indian
leopards, Asian wild dogs, collared bears and sloth bears. White-browed
gibbon, crested langur, Assam macaque and rhesus macaque represent the
primates of the reserve. Other mammal species worth mentioning are
fishing cat, cane cat, Eurasian otter, small Indian civet, Indian civet,
Indian mongoose, small mongoose, Bengal fox, golden jackal, Chinese sun
badger, hog badger, orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel, Indian porcupine,
Indian pangolin and Ganges dolphin. Among the reptiles are Ganges
gavial, Bengal monitor, banded monitor, kraits, king cobra, monocular
cobra, tiger python and reticulated python.
Problems arise from
the settlement around the national park. The region of the Karbi-Anglong
Mountains, which covers around 10,500 km², is used for agriculture and
around 800,000 people live here. Due to the extensive keeping of farm
animals, it often happens that grazing cattle enter the national park
and bring in diseases (e.g. anthrax), which are transmitted through
direct contact with wild animals or via feces.
Conversely, during
the rainy season from July/August to October, when the Brahmaputra
floods large parts of the park, many wild animals move to higher areas,
especially the Karbi Hills in the south and the Himalayan foothills in
the north, leaving the protected area. Farmers view Indian rhinos and
elephants as “agricultural pests” that trample fields. The animals are
therefore driven away or killed. Poachers also take advantage of the
flood season and the lack of monitoring of the animals by game wardens
to specifically capture the horn of the Indian rhinoceros.