WTI Rhino Rehabilitation project

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Pictures here :

http://www.wti.org.in/jan2009-rhino-rehabilitation-project.html

 

Rhino Rehabilitation Project

 

 

BACKGROUND

<http://www.wti.org.in/jan2009-rhino-rehabilitation-project.html#background>

| ABOUT

<http://www.wti.org.in/jan2009-rhino-rehabilitation-project.html#about>|

UPDATES<http://www.wti.org.in/jan2009-rhino-rehabilitation-project.html#UPDATES>

|

WINS <http://www.wti.org.in/jan2009-rhino-rehabilitation-project.html#wins>

 

* BACKGROUND*

 

Among the grave threats faced by the greater one-horned rhinoceros

today is the uneven population distribution along its home range. Kaziranga

National Park in the northeast Indian state of Assam is home to more than

1800 individuals, about three quarters of the world's greater one-horned

rhinoceros population distributed in India and Nepal. Chitwan National Park

in Nepal has the second-largest population of about 400 individuals, which

is less than one-fourth of the Kaziranga population.

 

Conservationists are wary of this situation and liken it to the " all eggs in

one basket " syndrome, since the survival of the species is more or less

pegged on the wellbeing of the Kaziranga rhino population.

 

For long-term conservation of the species, the need to expand its

distribution is the unanimous assertion. New population of rhinos have been

established in Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in

Nepal and in Dudhwa National Park in India. Manas National Park in western

part of Assam along the Indo-Bhutan border also offers an ideal location for

this conservation venture. Once home to about 100 rhinos, Manas lost its

entire population to poachers by 2000, but still retains habitat suitable

for rhino survival.

 

 

*ABOUT RHINO REHABILITATION PROJECT *

 

In February 2006, for the first time in India, the Assam Forest Department

and Wildlife Trust of India - International Fund for Animal Welfare

(WTI-IFAW) translocated a hand-raised rhino calf to Manas.

 

This marked the beginning of an ambitious project to reintroduce rhinos to

Manas, where the species was driven to local extinction by poaching.

WTI-IFAW's Rhino Rehabilitation Project aims to gradually repopulate rhinos

in Manas, by relocating and rehabilitating orphaned or displaced hand-raised

rhinos from Kaziranga National Park. This effort to repopulate rhinos in

Manas is supported by the Bodoland Territorial Council and the Assam Forest

Department.

 

Kaziranga National Park largely falls within the Brahmaputra River flood

plains and gets inundated annually in the rainy season. The floods take a

heavy toll on wildlife including rhinos. In addition to death by drowning

and displacement on being washed away, increased rhino poaching has

also been associated with these floods as the escaping animals are highly

vulnerable when they move out of the park in search of higher ground.

 

The Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), situated

near Kaziranga National Park has been rescuing displaced rhino calves since

its inception in 2002. The project is a joint venture between the Assam

Forest Department and WTI-IFAW.

An orphan rhino calf being bottle-fed at CWRC

 

A resident veterinarian and animal keepers look after the rescued

rhino calves and other animals at CWRC. Initially housed in the

stabilisation chamber for varying periods depending on the age, the rhino

calves are later transferred to a spacious outdoor enclosure within the

centre.

Left: Animal keepers tending to a rhino calf in the stabilisation chamber

at CWRC

Right: Calves in the outdoor enclosure

 

Once the captive calves stable and old enough, they are readied for their

relocation to the release site in Manas for a 'soft-release'. The rhinos

are screened for diseases to prevent transmission into the wild and are

radio-collared to facilitate post-release monitoring. They are then

transported to Manas in trucks, usually mildly sedated to prevent panic.

 

Left: Radio-collaring a rhino calf before its relocation to Manas NP

Right: The rhino calf to be relocated, inspects the wooden crate placed in

its enclosure.

 

In Manas, a spacious *boma *(a temporary enclosure) spanning about 33 acres

has been created at Bansbari Range. The rhinos, relocated from CWRC, are

released into the *boma* where they are confined till they attain sexual

maturity. The *boma *ensures protection to the calves from predators, while

allowing them to acclimatise to the local environment. The rhinos in the *

boma* have no interactions with humans except during periodical medical

assessments.

 

Left: Rhino translocation to Manas NP in a truck

Right: Release of a rhino calf into the boma in Manas NP.

 

After about two or three years of acclimatisation, the calves are released

into the wild and are remotely monitored round-the-clock with the help of

radio-transmitters.

 

Translocated rhino calves in boma

 

 

 

 

UPDATES

 

 

A rhino calf inspects the open boma gate during its release into the wild

 

 

-

 

In November 2008, three female greater one-horned rhinoceros were

released in the wild from their temporary enclosure (*boma*) in Manas

National Park in western Assam. (Read

Story<http://www.wti.org.in/current-news/081202_wild_rhinos_are_back_in_manas.ht\

ml>

)

The release successfully culminated the efforts of the Assam Forest

Department and Wildlife Trust of India - International Fund for Animal

Welfare (WTI-IFAW) to " bring rhinos back to Manas " , which began with the

translocation of an individual from Kaziranga in January 2006. This was the

first ever attempt to re-introduce the rhinos in Manas, which lost its 100

or so rhinos to poachers by the year 2000. Two more rhinos were translocated

a year later and another in February, 2008.

 

 

 

**WINS

 

 

- Three female rhino calves, hand-raised at the CWRC and acclimatised to

the wild in their *boma* in Manas, were released from their enclosure in

November 2008. The calves had been radio-collared at CWRC, before their

relocation to Manas. Daily monitoring allows the animal keepers to keep

track of the released rhinos, who have not yet ventured far from the boma.

Security in the park has also been enhanced by the authorities to protect

the rhinos from poachers.

 

- This project was the first to reintroduce rhinos in Manas National

Park. This was also the first in India to use hand-raised rhino individuals

for species reintroduction programme.

 

- The first rhino to be relocated to Manas, *Mainao* was rescued as a

few-weeks-old from Baghori Range of Kaziranga National Park during the

floods in 2002. Swept away by the water, she was stuck on a forked branch of

a tree stump. As the water level reduced, she faced the threat of being hung

by her neck. Fortunately, she was noticed by a forest guard and was

'rescued'. She was hand-raised at CWRC for about three years before her

relocation to Manas in February 2006. *Mainao* was among the three calves

released into the wild in November 2008.