Karbi Anglong, Assam, June 30 2014: Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) organised a series of pre-flood awareness campaigns as part of the Karbi Anglong Conservation Project, with support from Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) in the foot-hills of Karbi Anglong from June 23 to 29, as a precautionary measure to the devastating floods which hit Kaziranaga National Park every year.

The team along with the villagers during the campaign. Photo: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee / IFAW-WTI

The awareness campaign which ended on Sunday was organised with the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and Assam Forest Department to sensitise the tribal villages adjacent to Kaziranga National Park on the crisis faced by wildlife during the floods. Veterinary experts from the International Fund for Animal Welfare-Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) were also present during the campaign and shared their experiences from previous years with the villagers. They emphasised the need of animal safety during the floods and the basic dos and don’ts when they see an animal in distress, with a special concentration on observing animal behaviour to guage any need of intervention.

Every year, the wild animals from Kaziranga move towards the higher and safer lands in the foot hills of Karbi Anglong, crossing National Highway 37 through different safe passages. Many of the animals are stressed and require medical intervention during this period, which is provided by CWRC in collaboration with the State Forest Department every year. The fringe villages of Karbi Anglong have for long served as shelters for many animals such as deer, rhinos, wild boars and elephants during the flood season, making awareness amongst the locals pertinent.

File photo: Hog deer trying to reach safe higher ground as it swims through the flooded National Park.
Photo: Dr Rathin Barman / IFAW-WTI

“We got a call from one of the village authorities from one such fringe villages during this campaign about a hog deer’s presence in the Karbi hills. Our CWRC veterinary team rescued and released it back to the wild of Kaziranga national park after few hours of observation on the same day. So, I feel that the pre-flood awareness campaign had created an amount of impact in the tribal community and immidiate response had started coming from the campaign covered villages.” said Dr. Anthony Nokso Phangcho, Project Lead and Veterniary Officer.

The campaign covered 13 fringe villages of KAziranga National Park through 9 awareness camps conducted by the WTI team which included Borsali Teron (Field Officer), Yuri Pator (Project Assistant), Dilip Deori (Manager) led by Dr Anthony Nosko Phangcho.

“We’ve distributed specially designed leaflets with the dos and don’ts in the local language which also included emergency contact numbers to the 24-hour control room of Kaziranga National Park Director’s office as well of CWRC. The villagers were also shown wildlife awareness movies along with power point presentations on rescue situations and we got a very positive response from the likes of the Hemai Tokbi, Village Headman, who expressed concern about saving the wildlife,” added Dr Phangcho.

Dilip Deori listening to one of the villagers as they share their concern about the safety of
wildlife during the floods. Photo: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee / IFAW-WTI