British royals upset over devastation in Kaziranga, write to park director

JORHAT: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have written to Kaziranga National Park (KNP) director P Sivakumar, saying that “they were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to the park and its precious wildlife caused by the very heavy monsoon flooding.”
Prince William and his wife, Catherine, had visited Kaziranga during their visit to India in April, 2016.
“We received a letter from the Kensington Palace on Wednesday and shared it in the media today after discussing the matter with the British high commissioner to India,” said Sivakumar.
The letter reads, “We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April, 2016 and are shocked by what has happened. The death of so many animals, including one- horned rhino, is deeply upsetting. We know from our visit how dedicated all the staff is Kaziranga are in caring for the park’s wildlife, and can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be. Catherine and I greatly admire all the work that you and the rangers at Kaziranga are doing to risk your own safety, rescue animals and contain the damage.”
It further added, “The loss of life and livelihoods in Assam as a result of flooding, coming on top of the Covid-19 pandemic, is deeply distressing. We offer our deepest condolences to all those affected.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on their maiden visit to India and Bhutan, had travelled 70km by road from Tezpur to reach Kaziranga in the spring of 2016. The focus of the Kaziranga visit was to look at the role conservation plays in the lives of rural people. They visited some of the locals who had been shifted and rehabilitated to minimize animal-human conflict in the fringe areas of the park.
After spending a night at the Kaziranga jungle resort on the night of April 12, coinciding with Bohag Bihu, they took a morning safari the following morning in a jeep. They met forest rangers and other officials to learn about the conservation initiatives of the park to preserve the fragile eco-system of the landscape ravaged by floods every year.
Elephant Family, a charity patronized by their Royal Highnesses, Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, have been aiding many initiatives to secure corridors for elephants in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong region.
State forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya took to his Twitter handle to share the letter of the British royal family. Attaching the letter in his post, Suklabaidya wrote, “My sincere gratitude towards His Royal Highness Prince William & Kensington Palace for their deep concern on the flood situation of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve. Your admiring words towards the ever dedicated staff of KNP will empower them with more encouragement for safeguarding the park.”
Kaziranga has lost 126 animals, including 13 rhinos, in floods till Friday evening. Divisional forest officer (Kaziranga) Ramesh Gogoi said, “The rhino which was seen straying on NH-37 in the Bandardubi area since July 17 was found dead at the edge of Deopani river by the forest staff of Dusuti camp in Bagori at 11 am on Friday.”