Flooding in India forces animals to flee; 6 rhinos rescued

Indian forest officials and wildlife conservationists try to catch a baby Rhino that strayed into an adjacent village following floods at the Kaziranga National Park, east of Gauhati, northeastern Assam state, India, Thursday, July 28, 2016. The Rhino calf was rescued and sent to a conservation center. Forest officials say they have rescued six rhino calves from being washed away by floodwaters that have swamped the national park. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) (The Associated Press)

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Indian forest officials, wildlife conservationists and villagers carry a baby Rhino that strayed into an adjacent village following floods at the Kaziranga National Park, east of Gauhati, northeastern Assam state, India, Thursday, July 28, 2016. The Rhino calf was rescued and sent to a conservation center. Forest officials say they have rescued six rhino calves from being washed away by floodwaters that have swamped the national park. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) (The Associated Press)

Indian forest officials and wildlife conservationists catch a baby Rhino that strayed into an adjacent village following floods at the Kaziranga National Park, east of Gauhati, northeastern Assam state, India, Thursday, July 28, 2016. The Rhino calf was rescued and sent to a conservation center. Forest officials say they have rescued six rhino calves from being washed away by floodwaters that have swamped the national park. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) (The Associated Press)

KAZIRANGA, India – Forest officials say they have rescued six rhino calves from being washed away by flood waters that have swamped a national park in India's remote northeastern state of Assam.

Torrential monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding in Assam and forced around 1.2 million people to leave their water-logged homes.

Incessant rain over the past several days have also flooded vast tracts of the Kaziranga National Park, home to the world's largest population of the one-horned rhinoceros.

Rathin Barman, an official at a wildlife research and conservation center in Kaziranga, said that they have rescued six baby rhinos since the floods began last week.

On Thursday, wildlife workers covered the face of a baby rhino with a cloth to prevent it from getting alarmed before removing it to the conservation center.