Orang National Park, National park in Darrang district, India.
Orang National Park is a protected area in Assam that stretches across the northern bank of the Brahmaputra and covers around 79 square kilometers (about 30 square miles). The area consists of open grasslands, wet marsh zones and dense forest sections that together form a habitat for large mammals and numerous bird species.
Local tribes lived in the area until about 1900, when an epidemic led them to abandon it. The British colonial authorities declared it the Orang Game Reserve by notice dated 31 May 1915. It became a wildlife sanctuary on 20 September 1985 and was renamed Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in 1992, a change reversed after public pressure. It was declared a national park on 13 April 1999.
The park continues to carry its original name after local communities resisted a 1992 proposal to rename it Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. This decision reflects the attachment of people in the region to the historical designation of the protected area.
The nearest airport is Salonibari in Tezpur, about 10 km from the town, and the nearest railway station is Rangapara, roughly 50 km from the park. Tezpur lies 64 km away and Guwahati about 140 km, reached via National Highway 52 through Mangaldoi, Kharupetia, Dolgaon and Silbori. Visiting is best from October to April.
Orang is often called "Mini Kaziranga" because its grassland and wetland mix resembles that of Kaziranga National Park, and it is the only stronghold of the greater one-horned rhinoceros on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The 2022 count recorded 125 rhinos, up from 68 after anti-poaching measures in 2006-07.
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