A Kaziranga flashback

Mr Ramanan has sent these wonderful photos from his 2007 trip to Kaziranga.   You can click on any of them to enjoy the "bigger picture"!

Mr Ramanan recounts that the trip was organised by a photographic buddy from Guwahati, and the group was a bunch of photographing enthusiasts.  The day they landed in Guwahati, there was a bomb blast at the railway station, and this led to a feeling of unease and insecurity all through their trip.  But in wildlife terms, it was a fantastic and productive experience!

I haven't been to Kaziranga, and that has to be righted some time soon.  Until then, these voyeuristic pleasures will have to suffice, tales of other travellers and pictures too.  Its one of those interesting places - designated as a reserve forest more than a hundred years ago, home to the Indian one-horned rhino, a strong tiger reserve, an important birding area, and most unfortunately, also home to many poachers.

The Bramhaputra regularly floods the grasslands and so, the animals face a threat from the furies of nature along with that of the poachers.

This picture is my favourite!  I imagined the baby rhino  saying, "Dont come any closer, or my mommy will not be amused"!

And the one below... look at the identical "armour-plated" backsides, and the small ears sticking out in the mother and baby!  Rhinos are solitary creatures, unlike elephants, though mothers and babies can stay together for something like four years.



Kalij PheasantThis black-breasted Kalij Pheasant is supposedly common in the north-east, and this looks like an adult male.

This red jungle fowl is seen down south as well.  Its rather brightly coloured isn't it?

Red jungle fowl

Wild buffaloThere's no shortage of buffalos in Madras, but they dont have the magnificent (and menacing) horns of their wild counterparts!


A feeding hog deerI have not seen this deer variety.  Its peculiarity is that when it runs it does so, with its head down, like a hog, rather than up like a deer!  Also, they dont flee as a herd, but tend to scatter when alarmed.  I think they are primary food for the tigers of Kaziranga.

The elephant grass could grow to ten feet in height, and you need to be on an elephant to catch a view.

Sheila's 2008 trip diary

WWF had organized a camp at the Kaziranga National Park between 12 and 16 of March, 2008. The camp was attended by 12 people, including 4 from MNS. Accomodation for the first night was at Baguri and the following three nights at the Wild Grass Resort. The park itself is spread over 430 sq km, sandwiched between the mighty Brahmaputra to the North and the Guwahati-Jorhat National Highway to the South. It is divided into 4 ranges – 

• the Eastern range at Agoratoli,
  
•  the Western Range at Baguri, 
  
• Kohora covering the central area and 
  
• Burhapahar range which is an additional area attached to the park. 
  

Vegetation is mostly open grassland with a few pockets of tropical semi-evergreen and deciduous forests. Kaziranga is an IBA and birding was plentiful with a number of birds flocking around the magnificent flowers of the Red Silk Cotton (Bombax) trees.

DAY 1 (Mar 12) : was spent entirely on travel, reaching Kaziranga at 7pm.
The rest of the days started early. The park is open at 6.30 to 12 noon, and 2 to 5pm in the afternoons, and accordingly we would leave at 6am after tea, return to the resort for lunch and once again leave post-lunch.

DAY 2 was a jeep safari. The sighting of the first rhino many miles away was exciting and we all strained our binocs on them but by the second day we had seen so many of them that even one at close quarters did not merit a second glance!
Weighing at 2 tons the rhino is shortsighted and hard of hearing and relies entirely on its sense of smell. We came across a rhino which kept coming towards our jeep much to our discomfort, and ran away only when it was close enough to smell us, which was quite close! The other jeep had a close encounter with a rhino and its calf. An interesting aspect I learnt about the rhino is that it’s a creature of set habits, follows well-worn trails and even defecates at the same spot every time!

DAY 3 was an early morning elephant safari. An group of 6-8 elephants line up and take you into the tall elephant grass to see the rhino up close . We saw 6 to 7 rhinos, some with calves, looking on disinterestedly while we made use of the photo-op. We also saw herds of barasingha and hog deer and a couple of fawns scampering around the legs of their mothers. Mother and baby made a beautiful picture. There is a thin layer of ground mist in the mornings and in the distance the Karbi Anglong and Mikir Hills lend beauty to the whole scene.
After a sumptious breakfast back at the resort, we head off for a birding walk in the tea estates bordering the forest. Many colourful birds were sighted. Noteworthy among them were the flamboyantly red-coloured Crimson Sunbird glistening in the sunlight, flocks of Scarlet Minivets flitting around on trees, the loud red-breasted parakeets, Daurian Redstart, blue-throated barbets constantly calling out, a pair of Verditer flycatchers and stonechats. Earlier we had seen blue bearded bee-eaters and a large and colourful stork-billed kingfisher with its huge beak posed for a picture!
After lunch we set off on another walk. Around dusk when we returned our driver gesticulated wildly at us to take another path. Later we saw there was a herd of wild elephant very close to the path earlier taken.

DAY 4 We set off for the Eastern range 20 kms away. This is a mix of grassland and open forest and we finally see the Brahmaputra here. Earlier a large and magnificent Great Indian Hornbill flew languidly over us and left us speechless! Other noteworthy sightings were the Long-Billed Vultures, Northern lapwing, pairs of green billed malkoha and the highlight was otters, and Pallas Fishing Eagles training/ weaning (?)a sub-adult, creating a racket in the process.
Mammal sightings on the trip were : rhino, wild buffalo, elephant, wild boar, hog deer, swamp deer, rhesus macaque, hoary bellied squirrel.

Here are some of Sheila's pictures