Rhino population in Assam's Orang National Park increases by 24, total at 125

The population of one-horned rhinoceros has increased by 24 over the last four years in Assam's Orang National Park, a forest official said.

The rhino count now stands at 125 after the two-day census in the park which concluded on Monday, the official said.

The previous rhino population estimation was done in 2018, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Mangaldai Division, Pradipta Baruah said.

Of the total count, 43 were males, 49 females and 23 calves, while the gender of 10 could not be ascertained, he said.

The park was divided into 16 blocks, and 16 elephants were used to carry three persons each, including an enumerator, forest staff and a mahout for the exercise, he said.

Apart from forest officials, the members of rhino conservation organisations such as ‘Aaranyak’, WWF and faculty members of a local college also participated in the census.

During the last estimation process, 101 rhinos were counted, while no incidents of poaching were reported at the Park in the last four years, Baruah added.

Once critically endangered, the rhinos have been upgraded as vulnerable species by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from 2009, and according to the 2018 census, Assam has 2,652 such animals, with the Kaziranga National Park having the highest number of 2,413 rhinos.

A three-day Rhino census will be conducted in the Kaziranga National Park from March 26.

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