World Rhino Day 2023: Orphaned Rhino Calf Gets A New Lease Of Life In Kaziranga

Every year, September 22 is marked as World Rhino Day to create awareness about the need to protect the species that is being rapidly whipped out of its habitat.

There are a total of five species of rhinos in the world, and India is home to one of them -- the Greater One-Horned Rhino, also known as the Indian Rhino.

AFP

One-horned rhinos in Kaziranga

Like other rhino species worldwide, the one-horned rhinos also face threats from poachers and habitat loss.

The Indian rhinoceros is listed as a "vulnerable" species by the IUCN Red List, with less than 3000 remaining in the wilderness of India and Nepal.

But thanks to the years of conservation efforts by the government and NGOs, the one-horned rhinoceros population in Kaziranga, Assam, has shown signs of bouncing back.

How an orphaned rhino calf was saved

On World Rhino Day, an orphaned one-horned rhinoceros calf got a new lease of life due to one such effort.

WTI

The Assam forest department from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary rescued the female baby rhino between two and three months.

The calf was found alone, and it is suspected that the mother had died near the Haduk beel (lake) area of Pobitora WLS.

What CWRC does

For 10 days, the forest department tried to find other lactating mothers in that area but wasn't successful. Afterwards, the calf was handed over to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), jointly run by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Assam Forest Department & IFAW in Kaziranga, Assam, on 15th September.

WTI

When admitted to the centre, the young calf was emaciated, starved and showed acute signs of dehydration.

The rhino calf was fed formula milk at the facility, and its health gradually improved.

WTI

What does the future hold for rhino calf

"It's a miracle that the calf had survived this long. The team waited for a few days for the animal's condition to be stable for doing the necessary blood tests before being released into the rhino paddock", Dr. Samshul Ali, the centre head at CWRC, said.

On World Rhino Day, the young calf joined two other rhinos admitted to the centre in similar conditions.

WTI

54 rhino calves have been saved so far

Since its inception in 2002, CWRC has admitted 54 rhino calves, of which more than 42% have been successfully released back into the wild.

Hand-raised by the team, one such calf, Ganga, was released in Manas National Park in November 2008. She became the founder stock of two generations of rhinos in the landscape, showing the success of the rewilding process.

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