Last rhinos translocated in Assam under Vision 2020 to increase population
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Target of achieving a population of three,000 rhinos nearly achieved however the animal could possibly be reintroduced in solely one of many 4 protected areas deliberate
The bold Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV2020) got here to an in depth on Tuesday morning with the discharge of two rhinos — an grownup male and a feminine — in Assam’s Manas National Park transported from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary about 185 km to the east.
Designed in 2005, the IRV2020 is believed to have achieved its goal of achieving a population of three,000 rhinos in Assam. But the plan to unfold the Rhinoceros unicornis throughout 4 protected areas past Kaziranga National Park, Orang National Park and Pobitora couldn’t materialise.
“The eighth round of rhino translocation under IRV2020 ended at 7 a.m. today [April 13] with the release of the two rhinos in the central part of the Bansbari range of Manas, which has received a total of 22 rhinos from other protected areas under the translocation programme,” Amal Ch Sarmah, discipline director of Manas Tiger Reserve, stated.
“The ears of the translocated rhinos have been notched according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission and Asian Rhino Specialist Group’s guidelines for identification and monitoring. A special team has been tasked with monitoring the rhinos according to the translocation protocols for Assam,” he stated.
Saviour of Manas
Assam had a minimum of 5 rhino-bearing areas until the Nineteen Eighties. Better conservation efforts helped keep the population of the one-horned herbivore in Kaziranga, Orang and Pobitora, however encroachment and poaching wiped the animal out of Manas and Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary.
The lesser-known Laokhowa slipped under the radar of worldwide watchdogs. Manas, in focus for the near-extinction of the pygmy hog, misplaced the World Heritage Site tag it acquired in 1985 together with Kaziranga from the UNESCO.
“The translocated rhinos helped Manas National Park get back its World Heritage Site status in 2011. It can be expected that the translocation programme will contribute to the mixing of genes from individuals from Kaziranga and Pobitora and set up a healthy, breeding population of rhinos for the future of the species,” Mr. Sarmah stated.
Pandemic impression
M.K. Yadava, Assam’s Chief Wildlife Warden, stated IRV2020 acquired delayed by a 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was a unique programme where the government partnered international, national and local organisations for the conservation of the rhinos,” he stated, including that the Assam Forest Department, World Wide Fund for Nature-India, International Rhino Foundation and Bodoland Territorial Council have been the important thing gamers in the programme.
“Assam had about 2,000 rhinos when IRV2020 began in 2005. The rhino census could not be conducted in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions. The 2018 census yielded an estimated 2,650 rhinos in Assam, and if one goes by the annual rate of increase in the animal’s population, there should be close to 3,000 individuals today,” Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, a member of the rhino specialist group, stated.
He admitted the plan to introduce or reintroduce the rhino in three protected areas — Laokhowa, Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park — didn’t fairly work out.
A feminine rhino and its calf have been reintroduced in Laokhowa in 2016 however they died of pure causes there inside a number of months.
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