"Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park (both in Assam) cannot be world heritage sites without the flood. When Brahmaputra floods and goes back, the grass grows again. That is why there are so many deer and so many tigers. Ecosystem is kept alive by the new grass and new growth which is because of the floods. So, flood is good for Kaziranga, but bad for individual animals," Vivek Menon, Executive Director of conservation organisation Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), told reporters here.
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event on wildlife at the ongoing UN Convention on biological diversity here.
This year's floods at Kaziranga have resulted in displacement and death of several animals. The animals in the parks face danger, mainly because the water level rises suddenly in a flash flood, making it difficult for the animals to move to safer places, Menon said.
"Flooding is important. The problem animals die is not because it floods. The problem is because of flash flood, sudden rise of water. If you give little time, the animals know how to get away. They have their own mechanism.
"Flash flood is largely due to some dam somewhere releasing water very fast. It is definitely a human cause, water manipulation, by which animals are getting trapped. They are not anticipating. So, we monitor water level," he said.
WTI has rehabilitated, which includes handling, treating and putting the animals back, about 3,000 animals in the last 10 years in the northeast, he said. (More)