"Wild rhinos are back in Manas"

Three female greater one-horned rhinoceros were released in the wild from their temporary enclosure(boma) in Manas National Park in western Assam late last week.

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 this year.

Rescued as orphans displaced by floods in Kaziranga National Park, the rhinos were hand-raised by the WTI-IFAW run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), based near Kaziranga, before their translocation. In Manas, they were kept in a spacious 33 acre boma, to protect them from predators while they underwent gradual acclimatisation to the new environment.

Dr Rathin Barman, Co-ordinator, WTI, said, "Several meetings between rhino experts and government authorities were held to decide that the rhinos were ready for release, including the meeting of the Rhino Task Force of the Government of Assam held in September 2008. All three females are adults and have been acclimatised in Manas for more than a year. The release is a concrete attempt to re-establish the UNESCO world heritage site as a home range of the species."

The park authority made necessary arrangements on the security front, including alerting the field staff in all camps of the park for the protection of the rhinos.

A Swargiary, Director, Manas National Park, said, "The rhinos translocated by WTI-IFAW were ready for release as they had established their home range around the boma; this was confirmed through their defecation areas (which are localised in the species). We have revived all the anti-poaching camps inside as well as in the southern boundary of the park. Patrolling is going on day and night. The local youth from the bordering villages have been mobilised by the Bodoland Territorial Council to prevent poaching, for surveillance and information gathering. The security situation in Manas is rather good now, but we are not leaving our guard."

The boma gate was opened on November 27 following a pre-release assessment of the conditions in the park.

The rhinos had been radio-collared before their translocation to Manas. The radio-collars are now employed to track the movement of the rhinos for the necessary post-release monitoring. The released rhinos are being monitored continuously.

"The rhinos have not explored far away from the boma; the farthest they have ventured is less than 1 km from their former enclosure. They were acclimatised here and they consider the vicinity of the boma as their home. This was the idea behind restraining them in the enclosure, as this will prevent them from accidentally straying into human settlements, which could result in harm to themselves or to humans," added Dr Barman.

Meanwhile, the two male rhinos which were translocated under the wild to wild release of 'Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020)' were subsequently also put in the enclosure and are being held at the boma, expected to be released soon.

MC Malakar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam, happy with the status of the recently released rhinos said, "The habitat in Manas is ready for the release of rhinos. This has also been determined by the Habitat Assessment Group and Security Assessment Group set up under the IRV 2020, an initiative of the Department of Forests and Environment, Government of Assam assisted by WWF and various other NGOs. Rhino re-population in Manas is a collaboration of various agencies; being implemented both by rehabilitating rescued or displaced rhinos, as in the current Wildlife Trust of India aided release, and also by wild to wild translocation, as with the males which were brought from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. The IRV 2020 aims to reintroduce the species in previously rhino bearing areas and also increase the population of rhinos in Assam to 3000 by the year 2020."