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Two more one-horned rhinos have been translocated to Manas National Park, a world Heritage Site in western Assam, from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary near Guwahati as part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 project.
Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain on Monday informed that two female rhinos were shifted from Pobitora Sanctuary to Manas National Park after the animals had been tranquilised in the wild. Both the rhinos were released in the wild of Manas on Monday morning.
Both the parks are located about 200 kilometers apart.
So far 10 one-horned rhinos including seven females have been shifted from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas National Park in total four attempts. The efforts are aimed at re-introducing rhinos in Manas Park where the rhino population was destroyed during the civil unrest in Bodo tribe dominated areas in 1980s and 1990s.
The IRV 2020 aims to attain a rhino population of 3,000 in seven Protected Areas of Assam by the year 2020. Seven PAs have been selected as the habitat of the rhinos in both the North and South banks of the Brahmaputra River.
The rhino translocation operation was funded by International Rhino Foundation, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, World Wildlife Fund, while Guwahati-based green brigade Aaranyak provided technical assistance.
Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest density of t one-horned rhinos on the planet. The 38 square kilometers park with a core area of 22 square kilometers have 84 one-horned rhinos as per the findings of the last rhino census carried out in the Park that is located about 35 kilometers away from the heart of Guwahati city.
The forest minister Hussain further informed that the Tiger population in the state has increased to143 including 118 alone in Kaziranga National Park. He said so is the case with population of one-horned rhinos and elephants.
As per the last rhino census (of 2009) ,the number of one-horned rhinos in the state are 2201. The elephant population in the state now stands at 5,620.
Meanwhile, Debo Kumar Das, a lawyer, who was injured by a stray leopard in Guwahati on Saturday died of his injuries on Sunday night.
The Assam government on Monday constituted a committee of three senior forest officials -- Suresh Chand, Utpol Bora and Narayan Mahanta -- to probe into the incident of Leopard straying into the city and suggest measures to prevent/tackle such incidents in future.