Picture yourself facing the great one-horned rhino, grazing gracefully among the tall elephant grass. Yes, you are in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, one of the last refuges of the one-horned rhinoceros in Assam, India. As part of our Assam tour, we visited Pobitora and Kaziranga wildlife sanctuaries. Pobitora and Kaziranga are the two main wildlife sanctuaries that have a large population of Indian one-horned rhinos.
Welcome, visitors, to the abode of the rhino, the state animal of Assam. With a large population of these majestic animals in this sanctuary, we can safely declare Kaziranga the kingdom of the rhino.
We left from the state capital, Guwahati, for Pobitora first. Pobitora is a wildlife sanctuary on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra.
We took a jeep safari run by the Assam Forest Department. Pobitora is a smaller sanctuary compared to Kaziranga, but it has the highest density of rhinos in the world. So, there is no chance of getting disappointed at not seeing them in here. They laze around, grazing slowly on the tall grass, made juicier by the waters of the Brahmaputra.
There is a dolphin viewing point in Pobitora, but be sure to check the season. The local guides say that post-monsoon season, that is, after October, is a good time to see the dolphins. Since we visited in the summer, we were informed that the water level would be low and the dolphins would have retreated far back into the river.
Next on our list was the more famous Kaziranga National Park. Though it is known more for the rhinos, not many know that it is also a tiger reserve and the site of Project Tiger. It was declared a tiger reserve in 2006 due to an increase in the tiger population. As in every tiger reserve, getting a view of the elusive tiger depends on your luck. One batch of our group was lucky enough to get a fleeting glimpse of the national animal.
There are two types of safaris in Kaziranga, the first being the elephant safari, followed by the jeep safari. The elephants can carry two or four people. Elephant safaris are shorter but have more variety as they can move into marshes and grasslands, unlike jeeps that can only run on designated roads. The first few moves make you jerky and feel like you will topple over, but once you get used to it, you will love the elephant ride.
The rhinos are everywhere, either loners or mothers with their young ones. At some point, you will start seeing them as nothing more than the village buffalo wallowing in its pond.
The other animals that we came across in both the jeep safari and the elephant safari were bison, gaur, wild elephants, tortoises, and some species of deer.
It is not just the vast greenery and fresh air that make you mesmerised. On a vast grassland, all the elephants converge, and this makes for a great sight as a conference of the elephants.
Apart from the ubiquitous rhinoceros, Kaziranga is also home to the Indian gaur, elephants, bison, jackals, spotted deer, swamp deer, water buffalo, and a wide variety of birds. Our visit gave us a glimpse of Siberian cranes and some other migratory birds.
Kazriranga National Park is a mixed tropical deciduous forest. It is a mix of both grasslands and woodlands. Cotton tree and elephant tree are some commonly found trees in Kaziranga. We find large grasslands with reeds, called elephant grass.
About rhinos
Rhinoceros is a large, thick-skinned herbivorous mammal. The word rhinoceros means “nose-horned” and is made of two words: rhinos, meaning nose, and keras, meaning horn. Presently, there are five species in the rhino family. Three species are found in south and southeast Asia, while the other two are found in Africa.
The Indian rhinoceros is one-horned. Two-horned rhinos are found in Africa. At one point, they were heavily hunted by poachers as there was a high demand for their horns. The horn on their nose is made of keratin, the same material that makes our hair and fingernails. So, there is nothing special or medicinal about the horns. The wrong belief that the horns had medicinal values led to the killing of many, leading to their near extinction.
After being declared a protected species, the conservation efforts of the government, the locals, and the forest workers have made a staggering recovery in numbers, and now their present population is approximately 2200 in Kaziranga. In fact, the forest guards of Kaziranga carry machine guns and are said to be ruthless with poachers, not hesitating to use them on any hunters.
The other parks where one-horned rhinos are found in India are:
- Orang National Park, Assam
- Manas National Park, Assam
- Dibru Saikhowa National Park, Assam
- Gorumara National Park, West Bengal
- Jaldapara National Park, West Bengal
- Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh
Chitwan National Park, Parsa National Park, Bardia National Park, Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, and Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan are a few of the wildlife sanctuaries that host one-horned rhinos in the Indian subcontinent.
Best time to visit
The best time to visit Kaziranga is from November to April. Winter is the preferred season. In summer, the landscape is dry, and animals converge near water bodies. The park is usually closed after May in the monsoons due to flooding of the Brahmaputra.
How to reach
Guwahati is the gateway to the north-east. It is well connected by roads, trains, and flights. There are flights between Bengaluru and Guwahati, whose Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport is located some 20 kilometres from the city. Pobitora is about 50 kilometres from Guwahati, and tourists usually prefer taxis. From Pobitora, it is about 150 km to Kaziranga and takes roughly 3.5 hours on the road.
Safari gates
Kaziranga is a large park with an area of 430 square kilometres. It can be entered through four gates in different ranges: Bagori, Mihimukh, Ghorakati, and Agaratoli.
Timings
- Elephant safari is from 5:30 to 6:30 am, and 6:30 to 7:30 am
- Jeep safari is from 8:00 to 10:00 am and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Pobitora or Kaziranga – Which is better?
If you are looking for a quick visit to a wildlife sanctuary to see one-horned rhinos, Pobitora is ideal as it is nearer to Guwahati. If you want a longer safari and a glimpse of our striped king, the tiger, then Kaziranga is worth a visit.
Nearby attractions
After visiting Pobitora and Kaziranga, you can visit some other nearby attractions. They are Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Kakochang Falls, Deopahar (an archaeological site), and Addabarie Tea Estate.
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