A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: World Elephant Day was observed on August 12 at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, along with various parts of the world.
As part of the celebrations, a cleanliness drive was conducted early in the morning along both sides of National Highway 715, which passes through all the animal corridors from Bokakhat to Burapahar in Kaziranga National Park. The cleanliness campaign, organised by the park authorities, saw the participation of more than a hundred students from JDSG College, Chandra Nath Bezbaruah College, Kaziranga Government Model College, and Bokakhat Higher Secondary School, along with forest officials, members of Eco-Development Committees, representatives of jeep safari associations, and various NGOs.
The cleanliness drive was formally inaugurated at 5 am at the Panbari Animal Corridor by Kaziranga Director Dr C Ramesh and DFO Arun Bighnesh. Subsequently, the participants jointly collected more than 800 kg of waste from the elephant movement areas of the animal corridor.
In addition, an elephant medical camp and Ganesh Puja were organised at the Bagori forest range as part of the World Elephant Day programme. Kaziranga’s veterinary officer Dr Sulabh Sharma, senior veterinarian Dr Bhaskar Choudhury of the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation Centre at Panbari, Dr Mehdi Hasan, Dr Biswajit Barua of Kohora State Veterinary Hospital, elephant expert Kaushik Barua, forest officials Himanshu Gogoi, Mriganka Das, Jigyash Barua, Niloy Barua, and M Dupawan Nath were present at the medical camp.
On the occasion, Kaziranga Director Dr C. Ramesh also inaugurated an ambulance donated by the Wildlife Trust of India for wildlife medical services.
Aranyak’s Sanjib Bezbarua, Bhumir’s Uttam Saikia, and Jeep Safari Association representative Angad Bordoloi extended special cooperation in the World Elephant Day programme.
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