(Top) Saibal Acharya with his camera moments before his wife Imon and daughter Adrija fell off an elephant at Pobitora wildlife sanctuary outside Guwahati on Monday morning; (above) Imon, 32, and Adrija, 7, being treated after the fall. The mother and daughter from Asansol, who had joined Saibal for a holiday in Guwahati, fell off the elephant when it started running after a dog barked. They were given first aid and then moved to a hospital. Telegraph pictures

Jorhat, Jan. 3: A rhino strayed out of Kaziranga National Park this morning and attacked a seven-year-old girl who was playing in the courtyard of her house in a nearby village, injuring her grievously.

Kunti Mahali was moved to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital from Bokakhat sub-divisional hospital, where she was first taken.

“She is under constant observation,” A. Neog, a doctor at the hospital, said.

The child’s father, Shiva Mahili, blamed the forest department. “Wild animals from the park frequently stray into human habitation but the forest department makes no efforts to protect us. And if we attack the wild animals in self-defence, they arrest us,” he said.

The incident occurred close to a luxury resort which mostly hosts foreigners. The park is teeming with visitors during this peak tourist season.

Traffic on National Highway 37 was disrupted for several hours this morning. A park official said the rhino crossed the highway in the early hours and was first spotted near Kohora police station.

“It covered nearly 5km to Bogorijuri and attacked the girl who was playing in the courtyard of her house around 9am,” the official said.

Forest officials arrived at the site and fired in the air to chase the rhino back into the park. It returned to the park after several hours of struggle by the forest department staff.

The villagers residing on the fringe areas of the park alleged that the animals damage crops regularly.

The park official said the forest department pay compensation to the villagers for any damage to life and property caused by the animals of the park. “The villagers should learn to co-exist with the animals of the park,” the official said.

Kaziranga has over 2,000 rhinos and the population is showing an upward trend.

There have been several incidents of animal-human conflict in the park’s fringe areas.

A few years back, a villager was injured at Kuruabahi when a rhino attacked him.

The animal also damaged a Bolero used by the forest department to chase it back to the park.