KAZIRANGA, Aug 26 - Insufficient monsoon rainfall in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has become a matter of concern for wildlife activists, even though there has been no major visible negative impact on wild animals living in the forests here.
According to Wildlife Warden Kaushik Baruah, sufficient and timely monsoon rainfall is essential in the Kaziranga forests for regeneration of vegetation as it serves as fodder for wild animals.
�If there is normal rainfall, then there will be natural and timely growth of new green vegetation, which is important for wildlife especially mega species like elephants. Otherwise, elephants prefer to migrate to some new areas occupied by humans in search of food. This leads to major conflicts between man and elephants,� he said.
Rohini Saikia, Divisional Forest Officer of Eastern Assam Wildlife Division (Kaziranga), said sufficient rainfall is important for the KNP as it helps clean up the water bodies inside the park and enables aquatic organisms to absorb necessary oxygen for their survival.
The KNP has around 200 beels and lakes, which get cleaned in the annual floods. This also brings in rich alluvial soil for better growth of grasses and other vegetation.
Talking to this correspondent, Dr Anupam Sharma from WWF-India said that one should not read too much with this year�s less monsoon rainfall in Kaziranga because till the first part of October, sufficient rainfall could be expected as Assam has had the experience of receiving heavy rainfall a couple of years back.
Sharma, however, cautioned that demands to meet infrastructure development � like communication infrastructure or others � might lead to serious ecological disturbances.
He said that the recent deluge in Kerala was one such example. �If we exploit nature and its resources to lead a modern life, then we should also be ready to receive the worst things from nature in future. After all, it�s a cycle which will definitely follow its path.�
Sharma said that the number of wildlife species including micro species and their living characteristics cannot be compared with other developed countries like Singapore. The vital wildlife corridors in Kaziranga must be kept intact for the survival of these wild animals.
