Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga (kah-zih-rawng-ah) is one of the oldest national parks in India and is the largest habitat for Indian single-horned rhino (rhinoceros unicornis). Kaziranga is also a . Its success in conservation has had a price. Forest guards, heavily armed and largely immune to prosecution, killed 50 people from 2013-2015. There are no fences or signs marking the edge of the park; alleged poachers and anyone wandering within the park at night risks being shot on sight or with very little warning. Local villagers and tribal peoples have often been maimed or killed. Many villagers have been dispossessed of homes and land to allow park expansion. The history of Kaziranga dates back over a century. In 1904 Lady Curzon visited the region to see the one-horned rhino. Although see didin't see the animal and saw only footprints, but was moved by the charm of the forest. She returned to Kolkata and told her husband Lord Curzon to do something to protect the one-horned rhino.