Project Rhino
About the Great One Horned Rhino
Project Rhino : Its armour-like body and long length combined with the gorgeous Terai floodplains of India & Nepal to which it belongs, gives the Greater One-horned Rhino a mythical feel. These magnificient creatures can weigh up to 2.5 tonnes. The Terai is loosely the alluvial plains and forests formed by the rivers of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra. They are grazers and browsers, one of the last megaherbivores on the planet and can feed on anywhere between 200-300 kilos per day. Not just restricted to the grasslands, Rhinos wallow in the oxbow lakes, swamps and rivers, often feeding on the aquatic plants and roots present. They can also be seen amongst the riverine forests of the Terai. They are generally solitary animals but can be seen in group wallows and usually have a single offspring, which the mother takes close care of – unafraid of driving out other males at times if they get too close. Their main predator is the Tiger, which targets the young ones and sub-adults and despite the Tiger’s solitary statute, it can take on and succeed in hunting a Greater One Horned Rhinoceros as well. Once spread across North India, the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros now occur in just 3 states of India : Assam, West Bengal & Uttar Pradesh. Their population has dropped with the adventing of hunting, disappearance of their habitat to agriculture and human settlements, and demand for their horns has ensured that they remain under constant threat of extinction due to poaching.
Project Rhino
Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is an ambitious effort to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 2020. International Rhino Fund has partnered with the Assam Forest Department, the Bodoland Territorial Council, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to address the threats facing Indian rhinos. They are moving rhinos from overcrowded areas, like Kaziranga National Park and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, to other protected areas where they can breed. Along with continuing strict protection and community engagement, spreading Indian rhinos out among more protected areas will create a larger, safer and more stable population.
From 2005 to 2008, IRF and Indian Rhino Vision 2020 partners worked with local communities and park and government authorities to improve protection and monitoring of existing populations, constructing guard posts, patrol roads, and bridges. Rhino translocations began in April 2008, and over the next 4 years, IRV 2020 moved 18 Indian rhinos from Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park (a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage site that had previously been home to a large rhino population before the poaching crisis).
An additional eight rhinos were moved to Manas by the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation. In mid-2012, one of the females gave birth to the first calf born in Manas since rhino reintroductions began! Eleven more rhinos calves have been born in the park since then – a sure sign that the translocated animals are adapting well to their new home. Since that time, 14 calves have been born in the park.
Unfortunately, this population has also been touched by poaching – part of a region-wide increase in poaching beginning in 2012-2013. After losing eight animals, IRV 2020 halted rhino translocations to Manas in 2013 to focus on improving security. Training in new patrolling methods, along with the support of new park leadership, has made a big difference – only one rhino was lost to poaching in Manas in 2014 and one in 2017. The current population of 32 rhinos in Manas continues to thrive. The Project is now ready to start building a stable rhino population in a second protected area, and are planning to move at least six Indian rhinos from Kaziranga National Park to the Laokhowa-Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary beginning in 2019-2020. The species has recovered from about 200 animals in the early 1990s to around 2900 today.
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To be a travel agency, anyone can do it, to be a good agency required skills and knowledge but to be an excellent agency implies compassion and care for your clients. First of all, during the full trip, Mr Sharad called on regular basis to...
this was our second tiger safari at Corbett with Nature Safari and turned out to be worth every penny.We saw 7 tigers in 3 days and from quite close distance too. The best part was seeing a tigress wit her 2 grown cubs who crossed our path and walked...
Sharad and his team created a 10 day tour for my wife and I 22 months ago. Because we were very impressed by their service back then we have just used them again for 2 x 6 night centres at Kaziranga (Assam) and Chitwan (Nepal) ...
