Elephant "Mridula" Welcomes New Calf as Manas Celebrates Rare Wildlife Births

Baksa: Manas National Park has hit a spectacular double milestone in wildlife conservation following the births of a captive Asian elephant calf and a greater one-horned rhinoceros calf. The arrivals have brought immense jubilation to forest personnel and environmentalists at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas.

The captive elephant, Mridula, delivered a healthy male calf under the close monitoring of the forest department. Expressing the team's excitement, Head Mahout Dandeshwar Boro shared, "The birth has brought immense joy among the staff and mahouts working in the park. It is an encouraging development for everyone involved in caring for these gentle giants."

Simultaneously, the park is celebrating a historic breakthrough in its rhino rehabilitation timeline. A newborn calf delivered by Ganga-A (also referred to as Ganga-Ka) in the Bansbari range has officially extended the family of a flood-rescued rhino named Ganga into a three-generation wild lineage.

Ganga was rescued as a helpless, four-month-old orphan during the catastrophic 2004 Brahmaputra floods in Kaziranga. Hand-raised at the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)-IFAW Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, she was rewilded in Manas in 2008.

Hailing the long-term victory, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared, "Remember Ganga, the rhino rescued from the Brahmaputra floods? She's now a granny. One rescued rhino has become three generations thriving in the wild. That's what conservation looks like."

Forest and Climate Change Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah added that the births emphasize the significance of sustained care and a secure ecosystem.

These additions provide an optimistic backdrop as the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site transitions into its peak tourism season, offering visual evidence of the park's triumph over past decades of habitat degradation.

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