Orphaned elephant and rhino rehabilitation in India

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Orphaned elephants and rhino return to wild

 

Last Updated: 3:01pm GMT 29/02/2008

 

Two orphaned elephant calves and a rare 18-month-old rhino have been

returned to the wild in northeast India.

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The animals were released into Manas National Park in Assam after they were

found orphaned and then hand raised at the Centre for Wildlife

Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.

[image: The rhino calf is sedated before being released (left) and the

elephant before release] The rhino calf is sedated before being released

(left) and the elephant before release

 

Rosa Argent of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) which worked

with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) on the operation, said: " This

translocation is highly significant, not just for the welfare of the

individual animals given a new chance of life but also for the conservation

of two of India's most famous endangered species.

 

" It is hoped the return of rhinos to the park will help create a new viable

population after poachers wiped out the species some 15 years ago. "

 

The greater-one-horned rhino calf was found orphaned last September after

her mother had been shot dead by poachers probably for her horn which is

used in traditional Chinese medicines.

 

It is only the fourth rhino to be released into the Park by IFAW and WTI

after the successful return of three other females over the past two years.

Rhinos disappeared from Manas in the early 1990s after the entire population

was wiped out by militants.

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This is only the second time the endangered Asian elephant has been

rehabilitated and released back into the wild in India. The two elephants,

about three years old, were rehabilitated by specialist vets after one young

calf was rescued from a ditch on a tea estate and the other got stuck in the

mud and was abandoned by its herd.

 

Last year, IFAW and WTI released six elephants into Manas National Park and

three rhinos. Sri Lanka and Kenya are the only other countries to have

successfully released hand-raised elephants into the wild.

 

" IFAW, WTI and the governments in Assam are working very hard to protect and

rehabilitate wildlife, " said AJ Cady, Director of Animals in Crisis and

Distress for IFAW.

 

" This is another important milestone in the incremental progress we are

making toward restoring Manas as ever more viable for wildlife. "

[image: The female rhino calf will join three others that have already

been released] The female rhino calf will join three others that have

already been released

 

Manas National Park is a World Heritage site in northeast India which has

seen wildlife populations decline dramatically in recent decades.

 

IFAW and WTI have been working together for several years to restore the

park's ecosystem, including increasing the populations of endangered

animals.

 

It has recently been announced that the size of protected land in Manas has

been tripled.

 

The existing area in Manas is approximately 300 square kilometres and the

announcement increases the size of the park, adding 950 square kilometres.

 

Manas has one of the largest remaining populations of Golden langurs in the

world and is the only place in northeast India where Cheetal (spotted deer)

are found. Other animals in Manas include hornbills, tigers, gaurs, and a

herd of about 500 wild elephants.

 

Currently, there are around 35,000-45,000 Asian elephants remaining in the

wild, with nearly another 10,000 in captivity within Asia. An estimated

30,000 of these elephants are located in India.

 

Asian elephants have been listed on the Convention on the International

Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) since the start of the Convention in

1975. They remain greatly threatened by poaching and also habitat

fragmentation which spurs rampant human-elephant conflict throughout the

country.

 

The greater-one-horned rhino is seriously threatened and there are only

about 1,700 animals left in the world.