Hell in high water: Braving the monsoon to save India's rhinos

JULY 5, 2019

by Anup Sharma

The monsoon may bring respite from the scorching heat, but for the rangers and animals at Kaziranga National Park it also brings danger as poachers take advantage of greater camouflage and flooding.

The UNESCO-recognised reserve, home to two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinos, draws hunters who can earn as much as $150,000 for one horn on a black market serving foreign demand for its use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Three rhinos have been killed so far this year.

And in rainy season, it can be an especially gruelling battle—the grass reaches head-height, providing perfect cover for poachers and flooding forces the animals to move to higher ground, sometimes to the outskirts of the park.

"We are always on our toes in this season. There is hardly any rest for us. Information about poachers entering the park comes anytime and we have to respond immediately," explains ranger Gopi Kanta Deka.

He and his dedicated colleagues—on duty constantly for weeks at a time in this period, sometimes sleeping out in the open—must follow the animals to protect them from harm.

"We walk in groups from one anti-poaching camp to another or paddle boats during high floods to reach those areas from where the information has come in and get to the job quickly," he adds.

Continued

Rhino census in India's Kaziranga park counts 12 more

31 March 2018

A census in India's Kaziranga National Park has counted 2,413 one-horned rhinos - up 12 from 2015.

The Unesco World Heritage Site, in Assam state, is home to two-thirds of the world's population of the species.

The census is carried out every three years.

It is an incredible conservation success story given the fact that there were only a few hundred rhinos in the 1970s, says the BBC's South Asia editor Anbarasan Ethirajan.

However, the conservation effort has not been without controversy.

The government has in recent years given the park rangers extraordinary powers to protect the animals from harm - powers usually only given to soldiers intervening in civil unrest.

About 150 rhinos have been killed for their horns since 2006, but in 2015, park guards shot dead more people than poachers killed rhinos.

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Wildlife workers rescue six baby rhinos from flooding in India

Floods in Assam submerge Kaziranga national park, home to the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceros

AP in Kaziranga

Thursday 28 July 201615.56 BSTLast modified on Thursday 28 July 201622.00 BST

Wildlife workers have rescued a group of rhino calves at risk of being washed away by flood waters that have swamped a national park in northeastern India.

Monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding in Assam state and forced about 1.2 million people to leave their waterlogged homes. The rains have also flooded vast tracts of the Kaziranga national park, home to the world’s largest population of the one-horned rhinoceros.

Six baby rhinos have been rescued since the floods began last week, said Rathin Barman, an official at a wildlife research and conservation centre in Kaziranga. All of the rescued rhinos will stay at the centre and will be released in the wild once the flood waters recede.

At least one rhino drowned in the floods. Forest guards found its remains this week in the park, which is located alongside the Brahmaputra river. The river was overflowing the danger mark at several places and had breached its banks at others.

Kaziranga national park is home to a large number of wild animals including tigers and elephants.

Source … 

Rhino shot dead by poachers in India hours after royal visit

Animal is killed and its horn removed after Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s safari at Kaziranga national park

Caroline Davies

Thursday 14 April 201614.38 BST

Last modified on Friday 15 April 201600.20 BST

Poachers shot dead and de-horned a male rhino in India’s Kaziranga national park less than 10 hours after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a jeep safari there during a visit to highlight conservation, Indian media has reported.

The royal couple visited Kaziranga in Assam and the nearby Centre of Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) on Wednesday, and were staying around 12 miles (20km) away at the time of the incident at around 11.10pm.

“Our forest guards who rushed to the spot on hearing gunshots were engaged in an exchange of fire with the poachers, but the culprits managed to escape under the cover of darkness,” the Kaziranga divisional forest officer Subhashis Das told

It is said to be the sixth rhino killed by poachers in the 480 sq km park this year.

It was reported that as many as 105 empty cartridges from AK-47 weapons were found strewn near the spot. The paper quoted sources saying ordnance factory marks on the cartridges had fuelled suspicions that the weapons could have been among those snatched from security forces by rebel groups in the adjoining Karbi Anglong district.

Kazinranga is home to more than 2,400 one-horned rhinos and poaching has become a major issue.

Additional security was deployed during the royal visit, during which the couple helped feed rhino calves with bottled milk at the CWRC sanctuary. 

Another rhino had been killed by poachers three days before the arrival of the duke and duchess. Prince William was said to be appalled when shown footage of its mutilated remains. He spoke to the head of the park about the issue and is to help fund training and equipment for rangers through his charity United for Wildlife.

Source …

Indian rhino populations up over 25% in last 7 years

Posted by: Leya Musa / 19 hours ago

After a surge in rhino poaching this year at Kaziranga National Park the forestry department has released a paper to allay fears for the species. The paper shows that despite an increase in poaching of the one-horned rhino the population in Assam is up by 27% since 2006 and the state is on target to meet the Indian rhino vision target of 3000.

The ‘White Paper on Wildlife Conservation in Assam’ was released today by the Environment and Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain. It shows that the current population of one-horned rhinos is 2544. This is up from the last census of 2006 when the state of Assam had 2006, giving a population growth rate of 4.6% a year. This is above the target of the Indian Rhino Vision of 3.25%.

The Kaziranga National Park, the stronghold of the species, now has 2329 with the remaining 215 rhino living in other parts of the state.

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Kaziranga’s vital Indian rhino population increases despite poaching

Rhino population increasing slowly

March 2013. Despite an increased level of poaching in Kaziranga National Park, the latest rhino census has recorded a 37% increase since 1999 (And a few rhinos that were relocated to found a new population in Manas National Park).

Kaziranga's rhino population has increased from 1672 in 1999, to 2048 in 2009 and 2290 in 2013.

Kaziranga is a vital habitat for the Asian one horned rhino, containing more than 60% of the world's entire population, as well as more than 50% of the world's wild water buffalo population. Kaziranga, in Assam, is a World Heritage Site.
The census was undertaken by more than 250 trained staff riding on elephants.

Poaching
Last year, more than 20 rhinos were poached in Kaziranga, and 14 have been poached so far this year as poaching has increased.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kaziranga-rhino-census013.html

Two wild elephants treated in north-east India for poaching industries

Mobile veterinary team treated both elephants

December 2012. With assistance of forest staff, a Centre For Wildlife Rehabilitation & Conservation "CWRC) Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) team have successfully treated two injured wild elephants, in India's Kaziranga National Park.

In the first instance villagers reported an injured elephant unable to walk properly in the Sekoni Tea Estate. Upon reaching the spot, the team discovered that it was a male elephant, about 40 years old, with a swollen left forelimb because of a wound on the lower knee joint.

Gunshot wound
"The injury was deep-seated, with uneven edges - a probable gun-shot wound - though no foreign object was found embedded in it," said Dr Abhijit Bhawal, veterinarian of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), who led the team that responded to the rescue call. "Relevant medical treatment was given after the elephant was immobilized and the elephant was kept under observation. The last update from the forest staff confirmed an improvement in the elephant's wellbeing status, as gauged by its movement," he added.

Second elephant

The MVS was then called to treat another male adult elephant with a swelling on the right leg. This tusker, estimated to be around 30-35 years old, was visibly stressed at the sight of the captive elephants approaching him and needed to be tranquilised. Relevant medical treatment was provided under anaesthesia and the elephant showed signs of recovery within an hour. "The tusker was placed under a 48 hour observation with a team of frontline forest staff and a captive elephant to monitor his movement and feeding behaviour," said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head of WTI.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/india-elephant-poaching.html