Kaziranga Welcomes Newborn Elephant

At a time when floodwater has wreaked havoc across Assam, submerging a major portion of the famed Kaziranga National Park (KNP), there comes some news to rejoice.

On Sunday morning, KNP’s departmental elephant Rukmini gave birth to a male calf.

The entire staff has welcomed the newborn wholeheartedly and said that the mother-son duo was doing well.

Tweeting about it, KNP said, “New Addition to our family. Red heart Our Rukmini (departmental elephant) has given birth to a male baby(calf) at 6 AM today. Both Rukmini and the baby are in good health condition as per our Vet. We @kaziranga wholeheartedly welcome the new kid to our Kaziranga Family. Naming ceremony soon.”

New Addition to our family??
Our Rukmini (departmental elephant) has given birth to a male baby(calf) at 6AM today. Both Rukmini and baby are in good health condition as per our Vet. We @kaziranga whole heartedly welcome the new kid to Our Kaziranga Family. Naming ceremony soon. pic.twitter.com/PzhwEQ0CKt

— Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve (@kaziranga_) July 19, 2020

Nearly 85 per cent of the park’s total area has been submerged by the relentless Brahmaputra River, and 96 animals have died as a result so far.

While floods are an annual occurrence in the state of Assam, the past two years have proven especially worrisome for Kaziranga National Park.

KNP director P Shivkumar informed that the water levels crossed the ‘danger’ mark this year.

This is proving to be a huge problem for several animals, especially young calves, he said.

Assam Chief Minister Sarabanda Sonowal also visited the Kaziranga Park to assess the flood situation on Thursday.

Officials at the Kaziranga National Park have been carrying out relief measures for the past few weeks, and 132 animals have been rescued by them.