Kaziranga National Park is situated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river in Assam, India. It is famous as a refuge for the Indian or one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). Stretching over an area of 430 km², Kaziranga is one of the last refuges of the Indian rhino. The national park is a vast stretch of coarse, tall elephant grass, marshland and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests. The Park celebrates its centenary in 2005.

Kaziranga reserve was created to preserve Indian rhinocerous numbers, it was established as a proposed forest reserve on June 1, 1905, and Kaziranga was declared a reserve forest in 1908 by the British and was officially closed for shooting in 1926. In 1938 the Park was opened to visitors. In 1950 the area was declared a wildlife sanctuary, in 1954, the rhino was given legal protection through the Assam (Rhinoceros) Bill that laid down heavy penalties for killing it. In 1974 Kaziranga was designated a national park, the first national park in Assam. Bounded by the misty blue hills of Barail and Karbi Anglong to the south, the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Today it holds the world's largest population of Indian rhinos, numbering more than one thousand.

Kaziranga is home also to elephants, sloth bears, tigers, leopards, jungle cats, hog badgers, capped langurs, hoolock gibbons, wild boars, jackals, porcupines, pythons, water buffaloes, Indian bison, swamp deer, sambar deers and hog deer. Besides these, the park has a respectable avian population, which increases considerably in the winter, when migrating birds visit the park.

Flora

The land of Kaziranga Wildlife Santuary is mainly covered by dense and tall elephant grass. These large distribution of elephant grass are intermixed by small swamplands left behind by the receding floodwaters of the river Brahmaputra. These beautiful swamplands have an abundant cover of water lilies, water hyacinth and lotus. The vegetation that breaks the monotony of these grasslands and swamps are large clumps of semi-evergreen forest.

Fauna

The Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctruary is home to the great one horned Indian Rhino, about 900 in number. Other major wild attractions include a large population of Indian Elephants, Indian Bison, Swamp Deer or Barasingha, Hog Deer, Sloth Bears, Tigers, Leopard Cats, Jungle Cats, Otters, Hog Badgers, Capped Langurs, Hoolock Gibbons, Wild Boar, Jackal, Wild Buffalo, Pythons, Monitor Lizards, etc.
Some other animal found here are barking deer, Sambar, golden Langurs, Slow Loris, pygmy hog, capped langur and bears.

Avifauna

Kaziranga National Park is a birding paradise. The birds found here include the Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black-Shouldered Kite, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Pallas's Fishing Eagle, White Tailed Eagle, Grey-Headed Fishing Eagle, Himalayan Griffon, etc. Huge numbers of migratory birds descend on the parks lakes and swampy areas during winters, including Greylag Geese, Bar-Headed Geese, Ruddy Shelduck, Gadwall, Falcated Duck, Red-Crested Pochard and Northern Shoveller.

Reptiles

Rock Pythons and many more varieties of snakes, Monitor Lizards and Turtles.

Elephant Safari

The vast open country makes Kaziranga National Park Assam very accessible and wildlife viewing fairly enjoyable. Here one can leave in the early hours of the dawn for an elephant-back-ride. Authorised and trained Mahouts who guide visitors through the park train the Elephants. One could see wild Elephant herds roaming around or Indian Rhinos browse past visitors unknowingly. Since Kaziranga wildlife Sanctuary is easily approachable, its provides a chance to see animals in the wild at close quarters, thus making a trip to this National Park a very pleasurable experience.

By Air

The nearest airport is situated at Guwahati, which is 217-km away from the park. The other airport is located at Jorhat, 97-km from Kaziranga.

By Rail

The nearest railhead is Furkating, situated 75-km away from Kaziranga National Park.

By Road

The main gate for Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, at Kohora on the NH-37, consists of a handful of cafes and a small local market. ASTC and private buses stop here on their way to and from Guwahati, Tezpur and Upper Assam.