Indian Rhinos Return to Manas Park
Translocation Restores Endangered Species Lost During Civil Unrest
Nearly all one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park lost to poaching. Rehabilitated animals from healthy population being moved in hopes of restoring species to the area.
Manas National Park in India has suffered heavy losses of endangered one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) during the last 15 years. In fact, no rhinoceros had been offically recorded in the park in ten years. With the establishment of the Bodoland Territory and the end of civil unrest, efforts are now underway to restore the Manas wildlife sanctuary.
Kaziranga's Rhinoceros Rehabilitation Program
In contrast to Manas, Kaziranga National Park has a healthy rhinoceros population, thanks to many years of stability and consistent protection. While the park has suffered from some poaching, this has not been as devastating as the years of unrest in the Manas wildlife sanctuary were. Now some young rehabilitated rhinoceros have been translocated from Kaziranga to Manas in hopes of speeding up the restoration of a healthy rhinoceros population there.
The Wildlife Trust of India's Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), based in Kaziranga, has been saving endangered species affected by human encroachment and natural disasters since 2002. Young Indian one-horned rhinos rescued by CWRC will be the backbone of the Manas wildlife sanctuary reintroduction program.
Rhino Reintroduction to Manas National Park
The first rhino to be moved is a female, rescued from floods in 2002. She was translocated to Manas wildlife sanctuary in 2006 and has spent a year in an enclosure within the park becoming acclimatized to the area. Two more females from CWRC joined her in 2007. While in the enclosure they will gradually become used to their new home before being set free to roam the whole park.
The oldest female is nearly breeding age and ready for the next phase, being let out of the enclosure. Unfortunately for the reintroduction program, no male rhinoceros have been rescued, leaving this female without a potential mate. Efforts are underway to find and relocate a young wild male from another area of Manas, thus enhancing the chances of calves being born in the park within a few years.
The other two females will stay in the enclosure for a year, as determined by the IUCN approved translocation protocol. It is hoped that more wild male rhinos will make their way back into Manas now that poaching can be controlled.
Hope for the Future
In the meantime, in February of 2008, a male calf was rescued in Kaziranga National Park. Although it is very early in his rehabilitation, if this calf survives he will help redress the balance. Unfortunately that rehabilitation process takes several years so it may be necessary to consider translocation of other wild males into Manas if the nearby wild rhinos don’t move into the park soon.
In the meantime, it is encouraging to see the Indian one-horned rhinoceros rehabilitation program at CWRC being used to repopulate a wildlife sanctuary that had been heavily poached. If the project is successful, it may hold out hope for other endangered rhincoceros populations.
