Rescued rhino calves to be translocated to Manas Tiger Reserve

A CORRESPONDENT

NUMALIGARH: Three rhino calves – two females and a male- that were rescued during the 2019 floods will go a step closer to the wild this Saturday in Manas Tiger Reserve.

Rescued by the Assam Forest Department (AFD) and the IFAW- WTI vets from Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, these rhino calves have undergone a protocol of rehabilitation for two years before they will be translocated to Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR) following the IFAW- WTI commitment of 'Bringing Back Manas'.

Two females were rescued from Hatimura (Biswanath- North Bank) and Kuthuri area whereas the male was rescued from Solmara during the Kaziranga floods that hit in July-August 2019.

On Friday, all three had undergone health check-ups and marking before they are loaded in individual crates for the translocation by the expert team of IFAW-WTI veterinarians led by Head vet Dr. Bhaskar Choudhury with Dr. Samshul Ali, Manager CWRC, Dr. Daoharu Baro, In- charge MVS -Western Assam along with Dr. Biswajit Baruah, FVO, Kaziranga NP &TR.

The convoy is expected to reach Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the early hours of Saturday for the scheduled release of the animals in their dedicated boma, where they will be kept for a stipulated period for habituation before their final release in the wilderness of the reserve.

"Three rhinos calves, including 2 females and 1 male, rescued outside Kaziranga National Park during high flood of 2019 and looked after at Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) under Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve will be translocated to Manas Tiger Reserve on April 9 and released back to the wild. It is the right time to release, as the calves will be developing horns. The intra-state Rhino translocation will help in improving the gene pool and give respite from any epidemics in future," said P Sivakumar, Director, Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

The release of flood-rescued and rehabilitated rhinos into Manas Tiger Reserve is a part of the long-term project of IFAW-WTI with AFD and BTR, where the translocated rhinos have bred, and their progeny have added to the rhino population of Manas Tiger Reserve.

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