Every year, animals in Kaziranga National Park are caught in severe floods, orphaned, and separated from their herds

With Wildlife Trust of India and the Assam Forest Department, we created the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation

Problem

Kaziranga National Park is a tiger reserve and UNESCO world natural heritage site located in Assam, India. The park is home to 35 species of mammals, including greater one-horned rhinos and Asian elephants, and 500 species of birds. 

Every summer, the Brahmaputra River, which runs through the park, floods. Flood plains extend for miles on each side of the river, so once the flooding begins, it spreads quickly. Some animals are killed, and many young rhino and elephant calves become separated from their mothers, leaving them unable to survive on their own. 

As species follow their migration paths and search for higher ground, animals like the hog deer, water buffalo, elephants, and rhinos are forced to cross a major highway, causing vehicle strikes and separating herds. Other animals end up in situations of human-wildlife conflict as they are pushed closer to communities, and still others are orphaned by poaching or otherwise separated from their families, threatening their survival. 

Solution

Together with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and in collaboration with Assam Forest Department, we operate the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) to save animals in peril. 

It’s the first rescue and rehabilitation centre of its kind in the country, and its dedicated veterinarians, keepers, and volunteers rescue, rehabilitate, and release species ranging from rhinos and elephants to clouded leopards, moon bears, hog deer, and otters. 

CWRC’s work bridges rescue and conservation. Not only has the team rescued numerous rhino calves from floodwaters, but they’ve also successfully reintroduced them to the Greater Manas Landscape, re-establishing the landscape’s once-extinct rhino population. Backed by science, CWRC has also helped restore populations of gibbons, elephants, buffaloes, black bears, and storks. CWRC has embedded itself in local communities through outreach to promote human-wildlife coexistence and support community-led conservation efforts. 

Impact