Pradipta Barua, Field Director, Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve, highlights the role of the community in protecting the animals that roam the park

Guwahati: Field Director (FD), Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve (ONP&TR), Pradipta Barua has highlighted the important role of people in protecting the animals who sometimes escape from protected areas like Orang Park. The Field Director interacted with a group of school children who were given access to a jeep safari inside the Orang Tiger Reserve under Aaranyak’s ‘Friends of Rhino’ program in collaboration with Zoo Berlin in collaboration with ONP and authorities in TR.

The Field Director apprised the group of 30 school students about the rich biodiversity and importance of ONP&TR and their responsibility towards conservation of biodiversity and nature. Senior officer of Aaranyak, Arif Hussain, accompanied a group of school children during the park safari and apprised them about the habitat characteristics of various animal and bird species, including the one-horned rhinoceros.

During their first visit inside the National Park and Tiger Reserve the students were mesmerized to see rhinos, elephants, Asian buffaloes, large number of deers, wild boars, monkeys, many birds, snakes, various orchids, wetlands and water bodies. Rich grassland inside the park.

Students of Luit Jatiya Vidyalaya, Sengelimari and Bidyasagar Jatiya Vidyalaya, Rumari along with their in-charge teachers participated in the “Friends of Rhino” programme. The objective of the program is to inculcate a sense of responsibility and motivation in the young minds of the society towards the conservation of the precious one-horned rhinoceros and its habitat. Regional officers of ONP&TR, local EDC officers/members, local environment lovers also participated in the program to encourage students to develop interest towards nature conservation, a press release said.