India Guide
The Northeast
Kaziranga National Park
A World Heritage Site covering 430 square kilometres on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, 217km east of Guwahati, occupies a vast valley floor against a backdrop of the Karbi Anglong hills. Its rivulets, shallow lakes and semi-evergreen forested highlands blend into marshes and flood plains covered with tall elephant grass. A visit here is exhilarating and you are likely to see elephant, deer, wild buffalo and the park's famous one-horned rhino.
Rhinos are best seen from the back of an elephant, first thing on a winter's morning. Jeeps take you deeper into the forest than elephants, but cannot get nearly as close to the rhinos. Although its tigers are very elusive, driving through the park's landscape of open savannah grassland interspersed with dense jungle is a wonderful experience. The abundant birdlife includes egrets, herons, storks, fish eagles, kingfishers and a grey pelican colony.
Kaziranga is open from November to early April. Avoid visiting on Sundays, when it gets busy with noisy groups of Indian tourists. During the monsoons (June– Sept), the Brahmaputra bursts its banks, flooding the low-lying grasslands and causing animals to move to higher ground within the park.
Kaziranga celebrated its centenary in 2005; however land encroachment and poaching remain serious threats: at least 21 rhinos were killed in 2007, with a further three killed in January 2008. The under-staffed park authorities appear unable to protect the animals, whose horns fetch astronomical prices as aphrodisiacs. Nevertheless the park has now been named a tiger reserve – as part of Project Tiger – which should result in extra funds: whether this proves enough to make a real difference remains to be seen.