Big Five: The Stars and Stripes of Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga is like the Noah’s Ark of India’s northeast. The park is home to such an immense diversity of life; it is near impossible to see every single species that inhabits its ecosystem. There are hundreds of birds, bugs, and beasts that reside in its grasslands, marshes, and forests. But none are more sought after than the Big Five: The elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, swamp deer, and of course, the magnificent tiger that draws throngs of tourists every year.

Like Noah’s Ark however, Kaziranga faces flooding. Google the national park and you’ll see page after page of news articles about flooding in the region and the loss of land and life that the Brahmaputra — the lifeline of the region — brings every monsoon. In 2019, over seventy per cent of the region was under water, leading to a mass exodus of humans from the buffer areas, and animals from the forest.
The reality is that the flooding is crucial to this ecosystem. The Brahmaputra’s overflow brings mineral-rich soil to the plains, which in turn facilitates the growth of grass and shrubs that are the main food source of the mega-herbivores that live here. Kaziranga is also a Unesco World Heritage Site, and among the last unmodified examples of the Brahmaputra Valley ecosystem.

It has always flooded.

In the past however, the animals would move to the Karbi Anglong Hills, which offer higher ground. Now, there’s a highway running through the corridor, dotted with homes, buildings, even villages. This, in turn, has resulted in a rise in human-animal conflict (tigers are gorgeous, so long as they aren’t in your home).

It can seem dispiriting, but we can take solace in the fact that we are not powerless. As visitors, we too can do our part: Treat the park with respect, patronise lodges that are mindful of their impact on the environment, and remember that the animals always get priority.