Orphaned rhino calf rescued at Manas

The Assam Tribune , Monday, April 08, 2013
Correspondent :
GUWAHATI, April 7 – The 15-day-old calf of the rhino that was killed by poachers on April 2 was successfully rescued at Manas National Park on Friday.

In a rescue operation involving 30 frontline and senior staff of the Forest Department, veterinarians, 20 local villagers and members of WWF-India’s rhino monitoring team divided into three elephant-borne teams, and managed to capture the calf about 3 km south of the area where its mother had been killed.

It was then brought to the elephant training centre at Bansbari range of the park. The calf was administered oral rehydration and is currently under observation of the veterinarians.

“It was a challenge getting hold of the calf as it was very scared but thankfully it is fine and doing well now”, Deba Dutta, senior project officer, WWF-India, and one of the members of the rescue team, said.

Work will start shortly to construct a boma, a specially fenced enclosure, to which the calf will be transferred within a week. The rhino will be raised with the help of a rescue and rehabilitation expert from WTI.

While the rescue of the calf was undertaken successfully, the larger challenge of ensuring the safety of the translocated rhinos in Manas remains. Rhino (No. 17), the mother of the rescued calf, is the fourth translocated rhino to have been lost to poachers in Manas in the last two years and the 16th rhino killed in Assam so far this year.

The rhino was last seen alive on March 28 with its calf. Out of the 18 rhinos translocated to Manas National Park, only 14 remain alive now. The rhinos had been translocated under the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 programme (IRV 2020).

The high demand for rhino horn from East Asian countries through the illegal wildlife trade continues to pose the greatest threat for the rhinos of Assam.

“A multi-pronged strategy is needed to tackle the poaching menace. Apart from an inter-governmental approach, through CITES, to stem the rising illicit demand for rhino horn, which is wrongly believed to be a miracle cure in countries like Vietnam, the need of the hour is greater coordination between enforcement agencies and the Assam Forest Department in India to prevent poachers from targeting rhinos so easily.

“In Manas National Park itself, monitoring, patrolling, intelligence and protection regimes need to be strengthened and implemented on ground in a time-bound, verifiable and accountable manner,” Dr. Dipankar Ghose, director, Species and Landscapes Programme, WWF-India, said.

WWF-India remains committed to conservation of rhinos through the IRV 2020 programme and will work with the Assam Forest Department and other stakeholders to ensure that the remaining rhinos in Manas are better protected, Dr Ghose added.

 
SOURCE : http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=apr0813/state07
 


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