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Kaziranga National Park has been badly hit by the floods in Assam. It is home to 35 species of mammals and has 2400 one-horned rhinoceros, 20,000 hog deer, 100 tigers, 1000 elephants, 1500

wild buffaloes and 1000 swarm dear. File photo: A one-horned rhino swims through flood waters in Kaziranga National Park, about 250 kilometers east of Guwahati. Eight rhino calves are among

107 animals rescued from Kaziranga National Park which has been badly hit by the floods in Assam as the situation continued to remain grim. Eighty per cent of Kaziranga National Park, a

UNESCO World Heritage Site, is under flood waters. Mobile Veternary Units of Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) has so far rescued 62 hog deer, three eastern swamp

deer, 10 Asian one-horned rhinoceros, and eight rhinos calves separated from their mothers, according to a Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) release. CWRC is wildlife rescue, care and

rehabilitation facility run jointly by WTI, International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Assam Forest Department (AFD). "Several of these animals will require longterm care once we

look beyond the current situation towards possible rehabilitation into the wild," said Dr Rathin Barman, Deputy Director, WTI and the Centre-in charge. Dr Panjit Basumatary, lead

veterinarian at the centre said, "A large number of the animals, as you would expect from the trauma they have undergone, are highly stressed. Several of the orphaned rhino calves in

particular were injured and emaciated, and were initially not responding to our milk formula." There were instances of a large number of casualties, particular hog deer, from vehicular

traffic as there was unprecedented animal movement in search for higher ground. "The sudden influx of rescued animals - especially the large number of rhino calves - into CWRC has

stretched the centre's resources to the limit", according to the press release. Kaziranga National Park is home to 35 species of mammals and has 2400 one-horned rhinoceros, 20,000

hog deer, 100 tigers, 1000 elephants, 1500 wild buffaloes, 1000 swarm dear.