Government efforts lead to a rise in the population of vulnerable one-horned rhinos

Once considered endangered due to their dwindling numbers, the count of India’s greater one-horned rhinoceros has increased by 280 over the past four years, the government conducted census across key National Parks in India has revealed. Greater one-horned rhinos are the largest of the rhinoceros species and are a key target of illegal poachers for their keratin-made horns, a crucial ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines.

The Kaziranga National Park in Assam, spread over 500 sq. km and a Unesco World Heritage site has registered an increase of 200 one-horned rhinos over the last 4 years and currently is home to 2,613 rhinos. This includes 279 rhinos in the juvenile category (one to three years) and 146 calves (less than one year). The Jaldapara National Park in West Bengal's Alipurduar district has registered an increase of 55 one-horned rhinos in the last three years, taking the headcount from 237 to 292. The numbers include 179 adults, 45 sub-adults, and 68 calves. The Orang National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary too added 29 one-horned rhinos to the count between 2018 and 2022.

The enumeration exercise across all parks involved over 700 people which included forest staff, guides, NGOs, forest management committee members, and locals. The exercise also involved 50 elephants and the usage of drones and GPS devices for precise enumeration. The census that was previously conducted every six years would now be done every four years, as per Ramesh Gogoi, divisional forest officer of the Kaziranga National Park.

The increase in the count is attributed to the various steps by the department. These include increasing the forest cover and sensitizing the local people to stop poaching. Monsoon flooding was considered a big factor that caused the death of several animal species in Kaziranga, which is spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River. The authorities built high mud platforms to save the rhinos from floods during the monsoon season.

Poaching

The poachers kill rhinoceros for their horns which are believed to have aphrodisiac properties and are in great demand in Southeast Asia. The wildlife rangers and security guards initially carried outdated guns while protecting the park in the past and were out-armed by the poachers carrying sophisticated weapons. The Kaziranga National Park subsequently commissioned dedicated forest guards armed with AK-47 rifles to combat the poachers. As a result, cases of poaching in Kaziranga, which peaked in 2013 with 27 rhino deaths during the year, came down to just one in 2021.

In September 2021, the Assam government burnt nearly 2,500 horns to mark World Rhino Day and bust myths related to rhino horns.

Reference Reading

What is the one-horned Rhinoceros?

The Indian Rhinoceros, also called the one-horned rhino, is a rhinoceros species that is native to the Indian subcontinent. Nearly 85% of the Indian rhino population is concentrated in Assam, where Kaziranga National Park itself contains 70% of it.

The mammals were declared an endangered species in 1975 after their numbers had dropped to just a few hundred. They were later downgraded from ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ status in the 2008 Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The rhinos are extremely prone to poaching for their keratin-made horns, a crucial ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines. The horns are also believed to contain aphrodisiacal properties.