OUR CORRESPONDENT
MANGALDAI: Coinciding with World Animal Day, the Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve (ONPTR), popularly known as Mini Kaziranga, reopened to visitors on Sunday after its annual monsoon closure.
Senior park staff Bhaben Boro ceremonially reopened the park gate in the presence of officiating DFO and Field Director Abhijit Duarah, Range Officer Angkur Prasad Hazarika, wildlife photographer Nejib Ahmed and local villagers. Located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra in Darrang and Sonitpur districts, the park was originally declared the Orang Game Reserve on May 31, 1915. It was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1985, a national park in 1999 and India's 49th tiger reserve in 2016. Following subsequent boundary expansion, the park now covers 279.60 sq km, with the notified area including riverine tracts extending to 299.14 sq km. The expanded landscape connects Orang, Burhachapori and Kaziranga through a Brahmaputra riverine corridor that facilitates the movement of rhinos, tigers and elephants.
The park is home to around 125-128 one-horned rhinoceroses and 28 Royal Bengal tigers, according to camera-trap estimates. It also supports elephants, hog deer, wild boar and more than 370 bird species. The park has recorded zero rhino poaching since 2018.
The core area at Old Orang also contains the remains of an ancient Shiva temple believed to date back to the eighth century. The presence of 26 man-made ponds is said to indicate that Orang was once a thriving settlement that was abandoned around 1900 following a kala-azar epidemic. The park authorities have urged visitors to follow conservation guidelines, including avoiding plastic, maintaining silence, refraining from littering and keeping a safe distance from wildlife.
Also Read: Assam: First-ever Indian Peafowl sighted at Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve