India Floods Swamp National Park, Killing 6 Rhinos

An one-horned rhinoceros wades through flood water at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district of India's Assam state on June 20, 2024. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
An one-horned rhinoceros wades through flood water at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district of India's Assam state on June 20, 2024. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
TT
20

India Floods Swamp National Park, Killing 6 Rhinos

An one-horned rhinoceros wades through flood water at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district of India's Assam state on June 20, 2024. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)
An one-horned rhinoceros wades through flood water at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Morigaon district of India's Assam state on June 20, 2024. (Photo by Biju BORO / AFP)

Devastating floods in India's northeast that have killed scores of people also swamped a national park drowning six threatened rhinos and other wildlife, government officials said Tuesday.

Floods have begun to ease, Assam state Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a statement, noting the "water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries is below the danger level in most places".

More than 1.8 million people have been affected across 3,000 villages, as well as 72 killed since mid-May, according to state disaster officials.

Monsoon rains across South Asia from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies, but also bring widespread death and destruction.

The intensity of rain and floods has increased in recent years, with experts saying climate change is exacerbating the problem.

As the waters recede, the impact on wildlife from the deluge is also being seen, including in Kaziranga National Park.

"Floods have affected humans and animals alike," Sarma said, adding officers had been "working round the clock to aid everyone".

On Monday, Sarma posted a video on social media of a stranded rhino calf, up to its chin in water, saying he had "instructed its immediate rescue".

Kaziranga is home to two-thirds of the world's remaining one-horned rhinos, classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.

The park has 2,413 rhinos, according to a 2018 count.

Wildlife officers said six rhinos as well as scores of deer had been killed in recent days.

"Although there is higher ground for the shelter of the animals, the animals suffer when the high floods affect the park," said a senior park official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, confirming the animal deaths.

Kaziranga, a UNESCO world heritage site, is flooded almost every year, helping replenish water supplies and the ecological balance of the park.



Sri Lanka Counts Monkeys, Peacocks and Squirrels to Tackle Crop Damage

FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
TT
20

Sri Lanka Counts Monkeys, Peacocks and Squirrels to Tackle Crop Damage

FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo

Sri Lanka began a wildlife census on Saturday to count monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, aiming to manage their populations as farmers complain of agricultural losses.
Agriculture accounts for 8% of the country's economy and employs 8.1 million people, government data showed.
Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest coconut products exporter globally and produces about 3 billion cashew and other nuts annually, according to the Exports Development Board (EDB).
But coconut production, along with vegetable and fruit cultivation, has been hit due to crop destruction by monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, a top government official said.
"The problem has become so bad people are giving up farming. We are losing about 20% of total agricultural production. It is estimated that 90 million coconuts are lost every year," Namal Karunaratne, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, told Reuters.
"The census is the first step to understanding the density of these animals in farming areas so we can formulate proper policies to manage them."
The census comes after an incident in February when a monkey caused a nationwide blackout and power cuts lasting for three days.
Edirisinghe Arachchilage Gnanasena, a 72-year-old farmer, counted 45 monkeys, six giant squirrels and nine peacocks, in the five minutes allocated for the census. His eight-acre plot of farmland in Dambulla, a city in central Sri Lanka, has been struggling with crop losses for years.
With an air gun across his shoulder and lead pellets in a plastic bag, Gnanasena spends hours patrolling the neat rows of coconut, mango and banana plants he has carefully grown.
But tribes of monkeys still strip trees of hundreds of coconuts and pick mangoes, while peacocks swallow long beans whole, Gnanasena said.
"Monkeys are used to the air gun, so I light firecrackers to scare them off. But they always come back."
Farmers attribute the rising numbers of monkeys, peacocks, porcupines and wild boars in the area to habitat loss.
"I hope this census leads to long-term solutions. That is what we want," he added.
"This is not the fault of the animals. It is the fault of the humans."