kaziranga national park
Map: India
Current relevance:
Kaziranga
National Park is in news after the Supreme Court-constituted Central
Empowered Committee (CEC) criticised the Assam government over alleged
inaction against mining near the park’s southern boundary and the Parkup
Pahar Range, an ecologically important wildlife corridor.
Continent:
It is located in Assam, northeastern
India, Asia. It occupies the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain, with the
Brahmaputra River to the north and the Karbi Anglong Hills to the south.
Rivers:
The
Brahmaputra River forms the dominant riverine system along
Kaziranga, while smaller rivers and streams originating from the Karbi
Anglong Hills drain towards the park and its floodplains.
Significance of Kaziranga
National Park:
1.
Kaziranga
represents the largest undisturbed representative area of the Brahmaputra
Valley floodplain, characterised by wet alluvial grasslands, wetlands and
woodland habitats.
2.
It
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1985 for its
outstanding ecological processes and biodiversity.
3.
It
is globally renowned as the major stronghold of the Indian one-horned
rhinoceros and has played a major role in the species' recovery from the
brink of extinction.
4.
It
supports threatened wildlife including tiger, Asian elephant, wild water
buffalo, eastern swamp deer and Ganges River dolphin, besides being
important for migratory birds.
5.
The
Kaziranga–Karbi Anglong landscape connectivity is particularly important
because animals move towards the higher Karbi Anglong Hills, making protection
of the southern wildlife corridors ecologically significant.
Source: THE HINDU