Kevin Pietersen seen with a young calf during the shoot Credit: Instagram

Guwahati: On the occasion of ‘World Rhino Day’, National Geographic is going to present a documentary titled Save This Rhino: India on the one-horned rhinoceros and its endeavours in the country. It will premiere on Nat Geo Wild (National Geographic Channel) at 1 pm on Tuesday.

The documentary will feature the prolific former cricketer Kevin Pietersen exploring the Kaziranga National Park. Accompanying the former England cricketer are four students of Guwahati-based Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Sabique Hasan Ahmed, Abhinanda Rupa Mahanta, Pratiti Sharma and Pritamjit Sinha.

The documentary describes Kevin as a newly turned rhino conservationist who had arrived at the World heritage site along with a team of Nat Geo Wild on March 3 earlier this year to shoot for the film.

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The documentary aims at discovering what India has to offer from the culture to the unique wildlife and what wildlife conservation, especially for the rhinos in the country . Pietersen is also joined by National Geographic explorer and world renowned conservationist Dr Krithi Karanth as they take on this journey to Kaziranga National Park to find out exactly what’s going in this world famous bio-diversity park.

During the shooting of the documentary former cricketer had said, “The conservation efforts being carried out in Kaziranga are so successful that the effort can be an example for the rest of the world. With a smile, all people here are dedicated to save the rhino, for which it has become the iconic symbol of Assam. Everybody in Kaziranga is ready to help and cooperate for conservation of wildlife. Everybody in Kaziranga has understood the value of the rhino. I will come again to Kaziranga to witness its wildlife and interact with the people of the area.”

He even posted a tweet: “India is going to be so proud of the beauty we show off in their state of Assam. This is one stunning learning experience.”

He had also compared the efforts at the Kaziranga National Park with that in Africa, saying that there were major problems with wildlife protection there, while everybody was enthusiastic and determined to save this enormous beast from extinction.

Assam minister of forest & environment and fisheries Parimal Suklavaidya took to Twitter to inform viewers about the premiere on “our majestic pride” scheduled at 1 pm in the afternoon and at 9 pm in the night.

The previous edition of Nat Geo Wild’s Save This Rhino was shot in South Africa which saw Kevin Pietersen keeping up with an orphaned calf who found severely injured after poachers killed his mother at Kruger National Park.

Meanwhile, India seems excited as it looks forward to the premiere of the documentary. From ministers to common folk all have taken it up on Twitter to voice their enthusiasm as the world awaits for the screening of the journey through the wilds of Kaziranga.

Here are some of the reactions:

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