Mother-daughter duo’s narrow escape with a rhino in Kaziranga Park

way2barak, January 7: woman and her daughter had a close shave in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) when they fell off a safari vehicle with rhinos in close proximity, an official said on Monday. The driver was suspended and an enquiry was ordered, DFO and Deputy Director of the KNP Arun Vignesh said.

The incident happened when the driver accelerated and took a sharp turn after seeing two rhinos nearby, he said adding that action will be taken on the basis of the enquiry report.

Vignesh appealed to the safari vehicle drivers to be careful while driving inside the Park.

The girl fell from the open vehicle while they were taking a safari inside the Bagori range of the KNP and her mother jumped out to pick her up, the official said.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, two rhinos were seen nearby when the incident happened. The driver, however, stopped the vehicle at a distance and the two climbed into it again, the official said.

The two were not injured, except for a few scratches, and were taken for medical aid as they were in a state of shock for a while. The two were from the nearby Harmoti area in Nagaon district.

The official pointed out that both the drivers of the jeeps and tourists should be careful while taking a safari inside the KNP. He urged all tourists to follow the rules strictly.

President of Kaziranga Jeep Safari Association Mohen Saikia said that such an incident has never occurred before in the history of the Park and it is the ”lack of training and experience of a section of young drivers”. He urged the authorities to arrange for proper training of the drivers.

Meanwhile, another person was injured in a rhino attack in Burapahar range of the Park when he had gone to help forest guards in some work. The person, identified as Lakhi Teron, was admitted to a hospital and his condition was stated to be critical, a forest official said.

The KNP is a UNESCO World Heritage site which is home to nearly 3,000 greater one-horn rhinoceros. The Park also has wild buffalo, elephants, swamp deer and tigers.