GUWAHATI: The Government of Assam has strongly denied the allegations regarding the rhino census conducted in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve which was conducted in the month of March 2022.
Rohit Choudhury, an Assam-based environmentalist, cited documents received via the Right to Information Art and wrote to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on January 27. The letter alleged the reports of the rhino census were manipulated to arrive at the number 2613.
A statement issued on March 29, 2022, KNPTR’s Director Jatindra Sarma said the actual counting of rhinos was done on March 26 and 27, and a sample survey was conducted in 26 randomly selected compartments of the park on March 28
“Now, Yadava says ‘counting of rhinos sighted’ and ‘in total, 33 compartments were revisited, recounted’. Who is telling the truth? It should be decided among the KNPTR director and PCCF & HoFF (sic),” tweeted Rohit Choudhury Wednesday.
The letter mentioned that the total number of rhinos was boosted from 2042 to 2634 and later adjusted to 2613. It is important to note that the number 2613 is exactly 200 more than the number given in the year 2018, which was 2413.
After receiving the complaint, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s Wildlife Division and the National Tiger Conservation Authority asked the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state of Assam to submit a report “urgently” and “at the earliest.”
In the reply to this order, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force for Assam, M K Yadava called these allegations to be fake. He also sought “suitable action” against Rohit Choudhury for his action of trying to malign the name of the park in his reply.
Claiming the allegations caused “irreparable damage” to Kaziranga’s security and brought “uncountable disrepute” to the enumerators of the census and the Forest Department, M K Yadava said a method in practice since 1966 and the MoEFCC’s standard operating procedure on one-horned rhinoceros population estimation was followed for the 2022 census.
He also added that they conducted “counting of rhinos sighted” on March 26 and 27, 2022, and not an “actual counting of rhinos” as alleged by Rohit Choudhury. Recounting was also conducted in 33 compartments of the park on March 28.
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