Pobitora (Morigaon), Sept. 4: The water's edge is only a few metres down a slope from his official residence.

Beyond and behind it is a vast expanse of water that stretches to the horizon, punctuated by treetops and patches of raised land. The Pobitora wildlife sanctuary and much of the land in its vicinity lie submerged.

For the sanctuary's keeper, though, that's not enough water yet. "I would be happy with just a little more," Ashok Das, ranger, said.

The water that has turned the 38.81 square kilometre sanctuary into a waterbody has come in from the overflowing Brahmaputra to the north and would eventually exit through the Kolong river back to the Brahmaputra.

By then the permanent waterbodies inside the sanctuary would have been cleansed and rejuvenated for the inmates, primarily the one-horned rhino.

"As long as the animals are safe, floods in the sanctuary are not an issue. In fact, they are a blessing because they clean up the sanctuary, particularly the waterbodies which are so essential for the animals," Das said.

The animals in the sanctuary have so far been safe having relocated themselves on the highlands built inside the park to provide shelter during the annual floods.

This is the third wave of floods to strike Pobitora this year.

"The first two waves did not impact much," Das said.

Of the 22 anti-poaching camps, 16 are inside the sanctuary and floods have affected them all and boats are now the only mode of communication for the foresters.

Although, the first sighting of a rhino in the area was said to have been in 1961-62, when it was officially a grazing reserve in Nagaon district, the final notification declaring it as a wildlife sanctuary came only in 1998.

According to the last census in 2012, the sanctuary had 93 rhinos and the number would have gone up by now. "I have seen around 15 calves and even if we cancel out 50 per cent owing to deaths of rhinos for various causes, the number now would still be a hundred," Das said of the sanctuarywhich has the highest density of rhinos in the state.

One of those rhinos was apparently having a siesta on a patch of raised ground, unmindful of cattle grazing alongside or the egret that had parked itself on its considerable girth, possibly for a brief rest before it flew off again to hover over the water and prey on fish.

If Das's wish were to come true, both cattle that had strayed in and got stranded in the floods and the rhino would have to hike to the highland.