Department of Environment and Forests, Govt. of Assam

Kaziranga is among the largest and most significant National Parks of India. It stretches over an area of 860 sq km composed of the Brahmaputra river flood plain ecosystem. The conservation saga began in 1902 with the Calcutta zoo authorities requesting Mr. J.C.Arbuthnott, the Officiating Commissioner of the Assam Valley districts for a rhino. The officer expressed his inability to the Chief Commissioner of Assam mentioning the ‘existence of a few individuals due to the yearly incursions of large shooting parties’. The Chief Commissioner ‘gladly considered the possibility of establishing an asylum for the rhinoceros in Assam’. A series of communications and surveys led to the declaration of an area of 57,273.6 acres as Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest in 1905.

Kaziranga has grown in stature and has been bestowed the distinction of a World Heritage Site. It has the world's largest population of the Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), which has increased from a small number in 1905 to more than 1600 today. It is also one of the places with the highest densities of the Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), significant populations of Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus), the Asiatic wild buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and the swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli ranjitsinghi). The bird list for the Park and its surroundings exceed 500 species, one of the highest in the country.

Department of Environment and Forests, Govt. of Assam is  celebrating the Kaziranga Centenary  from 11^th February to 17^th February 2005 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Pradyut Bordoloi, Minister of Environment and Forest, Govt. of Assam as a tribute to 100 years of outstanding conservation work at the National Park. This mega event will support a series of consultations, debates, exhibitions, studies and exchanges with Kaziranga acting as a gateway for conservation of the unique biodiversity of North East India. The event shall also revive the traditional bonds between man-animal and create awareness for nature conservation. The expanded network and interactions would provide an impetus for framing a long-term strategy to continue the conservation efforts beyond the year 2005.

The Secretariat,

Kaziranga Centenary Celebrations Committee

Assam State Zoo, R.G. Baruah Road

Guwahati-781005.

Telefax: 0361-2201635,