Context: Recently, the Assam government has approved the addition of 30.53 sq km to the 884 sq km Kaziranga National Park.

• The additional area would make the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) grow to 1085.53 sq km.
• The core area of the KNPTR is 430 sq km.

Significance

• The three additions are habitat corridors and would help provide connectivity to Orang and Nameri National Parks across river Brahmaputra.
• It also provides connectivity to the hills of Karbi Anglong to the south of the park, where the rhino, tiger, deer and other animals take refuge during the floods.
• The additions include encroachment-evicted areas and suitable wildlife habitat on river islands (sandbars) that are vulnerable to encroachment.
• It is a move to consolidate the wildlife areas anticipating better wildlife conservation and reduction in human-wildlife negative interactions in the future.
• The additional areas straddling two districts — Nagaon and Sonitpur — would make the larger Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) grow to 1085.53 sq km.
• However, the wildlife habitat still awaits the possession 14.62 sq km “added” earlier in two other districts.

About Kaziranga National Park

• Location: It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.

Legal Status

• It was declared as a National Park in 1974.
• It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007. It has a total tiger reserve area of 1,030 sq km with a core area of 430 sq. km.

International Status

• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
• It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

Important Species Found

• It is the home of the world's most one-horned rhinos. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest density of one-horned rhinos in the world and second highest number of Rhinos in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
• Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the 'big four' species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.
• The 2018 census had yielded 2,413 rhinos and approximately 1,100 elephants.
• As per the figures of tiger census conducted in 2014, Kaziranga had an estimated 103 tigers, the third highest population in India after Jim Corbett National Park (215) in Uttarakhand and Bandipur National Park (120) in Karnataka.
• Kaziranga is also home to 9 of the 14 species of primates found in the Indian subcontinent.

Other Inhabitants of the National Park

• The Endangered Ganges Dolphin
• Vulnerable and rare species of Bengal Slow Loris
• Assamese Macaque
• Capped Langur
• Golden Langur
• and the Hoolock Gibbon (only ape found in India).

Rivers and Highways

• The National Highway 37 passes through the park area.
• The park also has more than 250 seasonal water bodies, besides the Diphlu River running through it.

Other national parks in Assam are

• Dibru-Saikhowa National Park,
• Manas National Park,
• Nameri National Park,
• Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.