Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, sit in a jeep to go on a safari at Kaziranga National Park in the northeastern state of Assam.
Kaziranga National Park - The British royal couple were visiting the Kaziranga National Park in hopes of drawing attention to the plight of endangered animals.
Published: Wed 13 Apr 2016, 9:33 AM
Updated: Wed 13 Apr 2016, 5:13 PM
Britain's Prince William and Princess Kate jumped into a jeep on Wednesday for a wildlife safari that included feeding rhino and elephant calves, during the latest leg of their India tour.
The royal couple, wearing handwoven gamochas or scarves that are traditional in India's remote northeastern Assam state, also met wildlife officials who are battling to protect vulnerable rhinos from poachers.
In their open-top jeep convoy, the Duke and Duchess, sporting sunglasses, looked relaxed as they navigated the World-Heritage listed Kaziranga National Park, home to two-thirds of the planet's remaining one-horned rhinos.
Kate, wearing a long pink and black printed dress and with giant milk bottle in hand, later fed the calves, smiling and patting them as they slurped the liquid down.
The royal couple was joined by a park official acting as a guide on a tour across dirt tracks, tall grasslands and thick evergreen forest.
They met a group of forest rangers and wildlife wardens at an anti-poaching camp inside the 480-square-kilometer (185-square-mile) reserve, which is also home to other endangered species including swamp deer and the Hoolock gibbon.
Prince William asked the forest rangers about the conservation challenges they face, he said.
The rangers told him that the poachers were using sophisticated automatic weapons, whereas the forest guards had old rifles, which were being upgraded, Bhaskar said.
Prince William carried a khaki golf cap to shield himself from the hot sun, wildlife officials said.
Will and Kate had arrived on Tuesday evening at the 12-cottage jungle resort where they stayed, and were entertained by a presentation of traditional Bihu dance. The Assamese New Year of Bihu began on Wednesday, a time of song, dance and merry-making among most of the state's 31 million people.
The prince tried to play a traditional bamboo jaw harp, a vibrating reed instrument, between his lips. "I need some more practice," he told the group of musicians.
The couple have already visited Mumbai and New Delhi on a weeklong tour of India. They will stay in Kaziranga until Thursday, when they will make a one-day trip to neighboring Bhutan.
William and Kate will then head back to India, where they'll wind up their tour with a visit to the Taj Mahal, retracing the steps of a 1992 visit to the monument of love by William's mother, the late Princess Diana.
The couple are traveling without their two children - 2 ½-year-old Prince George and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte. They had taken George to Australia with them in 2014 on their last royal tour.
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