The wildlife authority in Assam today ruled out poaching as a cause behind deaths of 10 tigers in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) since November 2008 till date.

MC Malakar, chief wildlife warden, told The Tribune that as carcass of none of the 10 tigers found dead in and around KNP since November 2008 had been taken away, the reason of deaths could be anything but poaching.

In the wake of tiger deaths in Kaziranga National Park, there is now a glimmer of hope. An initial survey under an ambitious project by the conservation group Aaranyak suggests that the park now possesses a healthy and stable population of tigers.

After an inordinate delay, the Kaziranga National Park would finally receive funds under the Project Tiger. An amount of nearly one crore rupees, sourced from the Union Government has been released by the State Government.

KAZIRANGA (DERGAON), Feb 9 - 7th Kaziranga Elephant Festival got under way with a four-day long programme at Kaziranga National Park (KNP) from today.

Kaliabor MP Deep Gogoi formaly inaugurated the SHG mela at Kahara this afternoon. More than 150 SHGs participated in the mela.

Bokakhat MLA Jiten Gogoi opened the traditional food mela.

The unprecedented death of nine tigers within a period of just three months in Kaziranga National Park has sent shockwaves across the conservation fraternity. The developments have naturally put a question mark on the prevailing security mechanism in the park.

The 7th Kaziranga Elephant Festival is scheduled to begin from February 9 at Kohora Mihimukh and Kaziranga National Park High School.

The opening ceremony of the festival will be inaugurated by Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi. However, the main gate of the elephant festival was inaugurated on January 28 by Deep Gogoi, MP, Kaliabor constituency.

Kaziranga National Park (KNP) along with tiger reserves in 17 States has been placed under high alert following death of over 10 tigers in the last three months. The alert has been sounded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) following intelligence inputs that organised poachers were on the prowl for fresh hunt.

Correspondent
GUWAHATI, Feb 2

London: Four natural sites of India, including Kaziranga National Park and river Ganges have qualified to represent the nation in the New7wonders of Nature Global Contest, organiser said on Wednesday.

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