Official sources here say the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve, which was originally notified as a wild-life sanctuary in 1986 with an area of 340 sq kms, was last year converted into a bio-sphere reserve, taking the total area including the buffer zone to 765 sq kms.

There has been considerable erosion too due to the recent floods, the sources said, which has also led to shrinking of space for the variety of animals in Dibru-Saikhowa. Rich in bio-diversity, thanks to its location between the outer eastern Himalayas and the Patkai flood plains, Dibru-Saikhowa has lost many animals during the recent floods, but the deaths went unreported as the spotlight was on the Kaziranga National Park.

Incidentally, Dibru-Saikhowa falls in the course of two major international fly-ways of migratory birds - the East Asian and the EastAsian-Australian fly-way - which brings about 200 different species of birds from both the hemispheres, sources say. The reserve remained under flood-water for nearly two months in August and September, which also led to poaching of smaller animals and fish by people residing in and around Dibru-Saikhowa.

Within the reserve, there are two large forest villages with an estimated population of 5,000 people. The authorities have been requesting the government to relocate them outside the bio-sphere but no response is forthcoming, sources said. Dibru-Saikhowa houses as many as 30 species of big mammals, besides, 320 species of bird. These apart, there are 62 identified species of fish which makes the reserve quite unique. There are six species of the cat family including the clouded leopard. Dibru-Saikhowa reserve also shelters the highly endangered hollock gibbon, and the Himalayan black bear.