guwahati floodwaters have started receding in the kaziranga national park but relief is a distant dream for the authorities a tough job awaits them as they brace for the second wave of wildlife exodus when the animals stray reining them in becomes one of the toughest jobs of the 430sq km area of the kaziranga about 50 is grassland on which a large herbivorous population survives kaziranga a world heritage site about 250 km from here is famed for being home to the big five rhinos elephants wild buffaloes eastern swamp deer and tigers of the big five four are herbivoresa vast expanse of grassland went under water in the latest spell of floods that left almost 90 of the kazirangas total area inundated park officials said there was a possibility of shortage of grass as the land had been damaged after remaining under water for a prolonged period animals that migrated out of the park because of floods have started returning with the receding of the water but when they will find there is not enough grass to feed on they will naturally stray out of the park again this postflood situation is a big challenge that we are gearing up to deal with kaziranga divisional forest officer suvasish das saida large number of animals mostly herds of different deer species have moved out of the park when floods engulfed vast stretches of the kaziranga between monday and thursday two more hog deer were killed by a speeding vehicle on thursday taking the casualty toll to eight since monday altogether 19 hog deer have been killed in the floods as of now eleven of them have died because of drowning and eight have been killed in road accidents since monday we have also rescued over 45 hog deer so far das said he added that two rhinos are still taking shelter outside the park as of thursday five rhino calves are under veterinary care at the kazirangabased centre for wildlife rehabilitation and conservation these calves were rescued after they were separated from their mothers while escaping the flood over 129 out of 178 antipoaching camps inside the kaziranga have been inundated while roads and other infrastructure of the park have been damagedvillage defence parties ecodevelopment committees and various local ngos are helping us in the rescue operations as well as protecting the stray animals das addedlocated on the floodplains of the brahmaputra the kaziranga is prone to flooding despite the damage caused by the floods kazirangas ecology is intrinsically linked to the annual deluge as the waters help rejuvenate the parks vast grassland officials however were optimistic and said the setback is temporary