India: Flooding drives animals out of Kaziranga NP
Floodwaters of the mighty Brahmaputra Monday entered the Kaziranga National Park in Assam forcing scores of endangered animals to escape to safer areas, officials said.
'A vast stretch of the Kaziranga National Park is under water. Animals are migrating from the sanctuary to an adjoining hill for safety,' a park warden said.
As per the 2009 census report, 2,048 of the world's estimated 3,000 one-horned rhinos lumber around the swamps and grasslands of the 430 sq km park.
Heavy monsoon rains have sparked flash floods and submerged up to 400 villages, displacing more than 200,000 people in three districts of Assam in the past two days.